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THE WORLD'S 



CRISIS 



By L. B. WOOLFOLK 



"Quo, quo 


scelesti ruitis ? aut cur 


dexteris 


Aptantur 


enses conditi? 




Paruinue 


campis atque Neptuuo 


super 


Fusum est ... . sanguinis 


? 




[Horace. 



CINCINNATI: 

MIAMI PRINTING AND PUBLISHING CO., PRINT. 

CORNER BEDINGER ST. AND MIAMI CANAL. 

1868. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, 

By L. B. WOOLFOLK, 

In the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio. 






TO 

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE- 



EXCITEMENTS ARE ALLAYED, PASSIONS LULLED, AND ENMITIES APPEASED— 

WITH UNFALTERING CONFIDENCE IN THEIR 

RETURNING CONSERVATISM, 



THE EXALTED DESTINY OF OTJE COUNTKY- 
THIS WORK, 

AS A TRIBUTE TO REPUBLICANISM, 

AND AN 

OFFERING AT THE SHRINE OF PATRIOTISM AND PHILANTHROPY, 

IS DEDICATED , 
BY 



THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



This volume has been written during the last two years, 
amidst the pressure of constant and imperative engagements, 
and with several long interruptions caused by absence from 
home and by protracted attacks of disease. The fact is not 
mentioned to excuse the faults which the critical reader may 
observe; but because it cannot escape notice that different 
portions were written at periods separated by wide intervals 
of time. 

The second " Book," giving a view of the political state of 
Europe, was completed early in the fall of 1866: the entire 
Manuscript was ready for the press in the spring of 1867. 
Consequently, the view of European events is nearly eighteen 
months old ; and the political condition of our own country is 
depicted from the standpoint of nine months ago. In one 
point of view, this is a defect. But the rapid movement of 
events forbids the delay necessary for such a revisal, as would 
bring the work up to the standpoint of the present. The author, 
however, is the chief sufferer from the lapse of time since dif- 
ferent portions of the work were written; for much that he 
predicted has become history; and many tendencies outlined 
in this work long before they had been suggested elsewhere, 
have now been perceived by the general public, and are no 
longer novel suggestions. Events have moved faster than 
the pen, and the author, in many instances, finds himself be- 
hind the status of the time, where he hoped to lead the van 
of thought. This, however, will not be esteemed an unmiti- 
gated misfortune, if the prognostications already fulfilled shall 



PREFACE. 

cause a candid examination of the suggestions respecting 
events yet lying in the future. 

In justice to himself and others, the author must disclaim 
any wish to be considered the exponent of the views of any 
political party. Responsibility for the opinions and the policy 
suggested in this work rests with him alone. Political expe- 
diency and the rally words of the moment have not been con- 
sidered in it. The range of thought is too broad for a merely 
political work; and many of the views presented, clashing 
with prejudices and views of present expediency, may perhaps 
prove unpalatable to persons of all parties, and all sections. 

The author is not, nor does he propose to become, a poli- 
tician. He has not written from a party, nor from a sectional, 
but from an American standpoint. If he advocates Conserva- 
tism, he does so because the principles of Conservatism con- 
stitute, as he conceives, the only hope of America and of 
mankind : If he assails Radicalism, it is not from party spirit, 
but because Radicalism is destructive of our prosperity, of Re- 
publicanism, and of the best hopes of man. He does not aim 
to discuss the questions involved in such a manner as to fall 
in with the views, passions, and prejudices of the time: his 
sole aim is truth ; his object discussion from the elevated phi- 
losophic point of view the future historian will occupy when 
the parties of the past and present, with their principles and 
their policy, shall be regarded with calmness, and the dispas- 
sionate verdict of posterity pronounced upon them. His aim 
is not the advocacy of partisan or sectional issues ; but the 
development of the true principles of Republican government ; 
the presentation of the momentous world-important issues in- 
volved in the existing crisis; and the suggestion of the policy 
necessary to save from impending ruin the prosperity of Our 
Country and the cause of Human Progress. 



THE CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION. 

Our age a transition period from an old to a new era. 
Feudalism worn out, and must give way to a new form of social order. 
Two principles struggling for the mastery of the new era: — Liberal mon- 
archy verging upon Republicanism, toward which it is tending — Absolute 
despotism aspiring, under Russia, to universal dominion — These principles 
have long been struggling for the supremacy in Europe, and their struggle 
is approaching a crisis which will give to one or the other a definitive vic- 
tory. — The United States holds the scales, and upon its policy, as determ- 
ined in the next Presidential election, will depend the issue of the struggle, 
and the destiny of the earth for generations to come. This fact constitutes 
this " THE WORLD'S CRISIS." 

2. This work will discuss the questions that come within its scope, under the 
three following propositions : 

Prop. I. The Government of the United States has, almost throughout its en- 
tire career, maintained a system op administration in violation of the fun- 
damental principles of the Constitution: with the effect upon HOME 
AFFAIRS of tarnishing the National Honor; dwarfing our Industrial 
Prosperity; warping our Social Life; and plunging the country into fright- 
ful Political Evils. 

Prop. II. These past violations of the Constitution have reacted most in- 
juriously upon Foreign Nations : fostering a false Industrial System 
throughout the World; gendering dangerous Social Evils; and strength- 
ening the cause of Absolutism, rescuing it from ruin, and giving birth to a 
political reaction eminently dangerous to the cause of Liberty and Advance- 
ment. 

Prop. III. The present is a crisis in which the Government of the United 
States may, by a wise and conservative policy, enable the country to enter upon 
a course of Unexampled Prosperity ; and exert an influence upon Foreign 
Affairs that will arrest the Industrial and Political Evils now menacing 
the World with ruin : But where an ill-advised policy will involve the COUN- 

7 



8 THE CONTENTS. 

TRY in Financial Ruin ; and suffer the Woeld to drift without restraint 
into a Chaos of convulsion, threatening with overthrow the cause of Human 
Advancement. 

These Propositions attribute to the United States an extent of influence which 
requires that we show, in an 

.DTTEODUCTOET DISSERTATION, 

THE UNITED STATES A NATION OF PROVIDENCE. 

CHAPTER I. 

FOKESHADOWINGS OF AN EXALTED DESTINY. 

Sec. I. The Circumstances of the Colonization of America. 

I. The reservation of the country from French and Spanish Catholic ad- 

venturers. 

II. Its settlement by fugitives from religious persecution. 

III. The circumstances which preserved the hardy virtues of the Colonists. 

Sec. 2. The Revolutionary War. 

I. The Preparatory Era — The Old French War. Preparative for the suc- 

cess of the struggle : — The increase of the military spirit of the Colonies — 
The preparation of the maritime States of Europe to make common 
cause with the revolted Colonies. — Inaugurating the collisions which 
brought on the struggle. 

II. The War of Independence. The advantages of Britain : — Her superiority 

in wealth and power, and in the quality of her troops — Her superiority 
of position, having command of the sea. — The means by which her 
superiority was prevented from being decisive: Three plans of ope- 
rations open to the British, either of which would have proved decisive : — 
First plan: to move upon the Colonies from Boston — Means by which 
the plan was rendered abortive. Second and third plans : to sever the 
Colonies on the line of the Hudson; and to assail the South: — Why 
they failed of success: Contrary winds — Escape of Washington from 
Long Island and New York — Campaign in the Jerseys — Howe's failure 
to co-operate with Burgoyne — Burgoyne's dilatory tactics — His fatal 
error. Other Providential events: The storms which prevented deci- 
sive engagements of French and English fleets. — the contrary winds 
which saved American army at Newport — the detection of Arnold's 
treason — The Battle of King's Mountain — the Providential escape of 
Greene from the pursuit of Cornwallis — The Providential events which 
resulted in the capture of Cornwallis. — Washington's opinion. 



THE CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEE II. 



THE PROVIDENTIAL MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES — the es- 
tablishment of Republicanism throughout the earth. 

Sec. I. The unexampled excellence of our system of government. 

I. Organic defects of former republics. The want of a representative sys- 

tem ; and of a proper distribution of the powers of government. Ex- 
emplified in Athenian Republic. — The clashing of rival classes. Exem- 
plified in Greek republics and in Rome. — The lack of the Federal prin- 
ciple. — The evil of Leagues: — The Amphictyonic Council — The Swiss 
Confederation. — The evils of Centralizations: — The Achaean League. 

II. Our system of government avoids all those errors. Manner in which 

principles of Republican government were slowly evolved during centuries. 
The evolution of the principle of popular representation : — Its birth 
and development in England — The evolution of the distribution of the 
powers of government. — The evolution of the Federal principle: — Provi- 
dential direction of preliminary events — No example in history — The 
outline of the proper system suggested : — On the one hand by the rela- 
tion of the Colonies to the mother country, which was a centraliza- 
tion — On the other by the evils of a disjointed League, as experienced 
under the old Confederation. — The causes which impelled the States 
to establish a better government. — The labors of the Constitutional 
Convention. The outline of governmental powers. — The limitations 
of Federal power — Giving it entire control over foreign relations — 
Leaving internal administration in the control of the States. Addi- 
tional safeguards in constructing the government upon a federal basis : — 
The Federal Congress — Divided into two branches — The Senate rep- 
resenting the State governments — The House of Representatives repre- 
senting the people of the several States. — The Senate the conservative 
branch of the legislature : — The long term of its members, the better 
enabling it to control the temporary ebullitions of passion in the pop- 
ular branch of the legislature. — The Federal Executive: — The Repre- 
sentative of the state governments, and the people of the states jointly — 
His veto power a restraint upon Congress. — The Supreme Court : — Re- 
moved from political excitement — Its power to annul Unconstitutional 
laws. 

III. Federal Republicanism the only stable form of Government. Insta- 

bility of all other forms of government. — Instability of monarchy : — Neces- 
sarily dependent upon force — It is founded upon the support of a lim- 
ited class: either of — An imperial nation rallying round the throne 
and holding in subjection conquered provinces ; or — A favored aristo- 
cratic class. — It has always been exposed to revolution and revolt. — The 



10 THE CONTENTS. 

instability of monarchy increased with the enlightenment of the age: — 
Absolute monarchy no longer practicable under existing conditions — 
Nor is Aristocratic monarchy : — Evident from the French Eevolution — 
From the course of events in England. — Nor is liberal monarchy; be- 
cause — Monarchy is of necessity a centralization, and a centralization 
can only be maintained by force. — The time is coming when monarchy, 
as it now exists, can rule by force no longer. — The only possibility of a 
much longer continuance of monarchy lies in some nation attaining 
Universal Dominion. Instability of all other systems of Republicanism. 
Instability of all Confederations of states, united either in Centraliza- 
tions or Leagues. — Instability of republics consisting of a single state; 
arising from — Their exercise of all powers of administration, domestic 
as well as foreign — This causes neglect of governmental duties and 
abuses of administration, leading to discontent and revolution — The 
only remedy for this is the distribution of power, as in a federal repub- 
lic. The stability of our system of government Centralization of power 
is the prime cause of the downfall of republics : — It causes the convul- 
sions, whatever form they assume, which subvert republics — The only 
remedy is the distribution of power — In the American Constitution 
the distribution of power carried almost to perfection : — The internal 
administration left with the states — The internal administration is so 
complex and so important that, if deposited in a single hand, it would 
inevitably lead to convulsions — But, divided among all the states, it 
produces no excitement whatever. — The Federal government having 
control of foreign affairs — Its powers distributed between the three 
departments of government — All elections quiet except the presiden- 
tial, which shows that the power exercised by the executive is too ex- 
tensive — The powers of the office more extensive than were contem- 
plated by the framers of the constitution. — The evils that have troubled 
the country have been caused by the unconstitutional centralization 
of all powers of administration, domestic as well as foreign, in the 
hands of the Federal government. — The excellence of our system of 
government when constitutionally administered: — It is the most efficient 
government — It secures the most perfect equity of administration — It 
maintains perfect domestic tranquillity. — Such a system of government 
capable of maintaining tranquillity in any country, even though the 
population be little advanced in civilization. — Such a government 
capable of indefinite expansion, becoming more stable as its boundaries 
are enlarged. 

Sec. 2. The past career of the United States evidence of its 
providential mission. 
I. The unprecedented progress of the countrt. The causes of this unex- 
ampled progress : — A new age of industry — Caused by striking and 
novel inventions. 



THE CONTENTS. 11 

II. The political influence of the country. In the past : — In giving a new 
impulse to liberty — Tn giving direction to popular aspirations. — Our in- 
fluence has almost effected the overthrow of feudal monarchy. — We are 
destined to yet greater political influence in the future : — Proved by the 
analogies of past history. 



BOOK I. 



EVILS INFLICTED UPON OUR OWN COUNTRY BY OUR 
VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

Prop. I. The Government of the United States has, almost throughout its en- 
tire career, maintained a system of administration in violation o/the fun- 
damental principles of the Constitution: with the effect upon HOME 
AFFAIRS of tarnishing the National Honor ; dwarfing our Industrial 
Prosperity; warping our Social Life; and plunging the country into fright- 
ful Political Evils. 

PART I. 
EVILS OF THE CARRYING TRADE. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE ERA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 

Sect. I. Policy of the Federalists. 

The industrial condition of the country. — The establishment of the Bank : — A 
policy of Centralization. — Motives which influenced Washington to 
sign the bill — The first false step, from which we have never recovered. — 
Hamilton's scheme of power. — The French Revolution: — Its influ- 
ence upon American politics. 

Sect. 2. Humiliations arising from the policy of the Federalists. 
The annihilation of the French marine. — The Bank precipitates the coun- 
try into the Carrying trade. — Deteriorating effects of the trade upon 
the national character. — Complications with France. — British aggress- 
ions: — Jay's treaty — Its shameful conditions. — Antagonism with 
France. — Adams' administration — French insults to our envoys — Pop- 
ular indignation. — Alien and Sedition laws. — Division of sentiment 
among the Federalists — The policy of Adams — Alienation of members 
of his party — Treaty with France — Election of 1800 — Intrigues which 
weakened the Federalists — Triumph of the Republicans. 



12 THE CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE II. 

THE ERA OF REPUBLICAN RULE. 

Peace of Amiens — Renewal of the war — Violations of our flag — Defensive 
measures — British paper blockade — British policy — The position of 
the United States — British restrictions — The Berlin decree — British 
orders in council — The Milan decree — The Embargo — Impropriety 
of the measure — Repeal and passage of non-intercourse act — Nego- 
tiations — Declaration of war with England — Resume. 

PART II. 
EVILS OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 

CHAPTEE I. 

NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Sect. I. The Normal Industrial development of the United 

States. 

I. The Normal Industrial career of the United States at the in- 
auguration of the Government. The true industrial sphere of 
the United States, — to become the manufacturer for the world. We 
excel all other countries in the conditions essential to manufac- 
turing success: — An energetic and enterprising population having 
adaptation to mechanical industry — An abundant home supply 
of raw material — An abundant home supply of provisions for opera- 
tive population. — Nature has marked the United States as the great 
world-manufacturing site. Obstacles that had prevented our engaging 
in manufactures before the adoption of the Federal constitution : — In 
the Colonial period — Under the old Confederation. Advantages for 
manufacturing at the inauguration of the Federal Government. — The 
new government put an end to all previous disadvantages : — The in- 
dustrial condition of the country was eminently favorable to manufac- 
tures — Immense advantages of the American manufacturer, at that 
era, over British competition. — These advantages and the condition of 
the country would necessarily have turned the enterprise of the country 
into them, if industry had been left to its natural course: — But Ham- 
ilton's United States Bank changed the course of industry. — It made 
manufactures impossible: — By inflating the currency and enhancing 
all prices; thus increasing the cost of production — By embarking the 
enterprise of the country in the speculations of the carrying trade. 



THE CONTENTS. 13 

II. Normal industrial career of the United States after the peace of 
1815. Once again the state of the country presented the necessary 
conditions of manufacturing success, and would have forced us upon 
a career of manufacturing greatness. The state of the country direct- 
ing emigration toward the South. — This rush of emigration would have 
glutted the cotton market, and caused the South to be self sustaining, 
as regards the necessaries of life. — The influence of general stagnation 
in forcing the West to engage in manufactures: — Without a market 
in the South, or in the East, the West, being unable to import, 
would have been driven to manufactures to supply the home demand. — 
The cheap cost of manufacturing in the West. — Far cheaper than in 
England: — It had an abundance of labor, raw material, and provisions, 
all at the lowest rates. — Prices of all were low on account of — The 
state of the currency — The want of demand — The low rate of taxation. — 
While the cost of manufacturing wa3 low beyond example, the diffi- 
culty of transportation from the seaboard made the price of all manu- 
factured articles extravagantly high. — Cheap production and high sales 
would have given birth to Western manufactures, especially when there 
was no other opening to enterprise. — Vast superiority of the West, then, 
over Great Britain as a site for manufactures : — The Western manu- 
facturer had a cheaper power than the English — The Western manu- 
facturer had cheaper raw material — Provisions cheaper in the West — 
Labor cheaper in the West. — These advantages would have made the 
West the seat of manufactures for the world. — We should have had a 
world-wide- commerce. — The natural features of the West point it out 
as the destined seat of the world's manufactures. — Its destiny must 
yet be attained. 

Sect. 2. Normal Social state of the United States. 

Our normal industrial career would have reacted upon our social life. 

I. We should have escaped social excitement. 

II. No oppression of the laboring classes : — Of the factory operative popula- 

lation — Nor of the slave population of the South. — Slavery, from in- 
dustrial causes, would have been a mild institution : — No slave trade 
between the States — No excessive exaction of labor — Natural causes 
would have gradually brought about emancipation. — Virtuous sim- 
plicity of manners would have characterized the social life of the whole 
country. 

Sect. 3. The normal political destiny oe the United States. 
I. Political agitations avoided. Party passions could not have arisen : — No 
sectional bitterness — No Tariff agitation — No Slavery excitement. — 
We should have been an united, harmonious people — one in interest, 
in aim. — Then we might have exerted an unalloyed and irresistible in- 
fluence for freedom. 



14 THE CONTENTS. 

II. Our prosrerity perpetual. The Constitution prevents the fomentation 
of political agitations, by governmental action. — Our social condition 
would have prevented the social demoralization so dangerous to states. — 
Our geographical position would prevent the centralization of com- 
merce and wealth, which generates corruption and leads to decline. 



CHAPTER II. 

INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM IN WARPING OUR 

INDUSTRY. 

Sect. 1. Eise of the American* System. 
General depression at the close of the war with England. — Bank and Tariff 
as relief measures. — Bank (for obvious reasons) did not afford the de- 
sired relief: — The inflation of the currency by the Bank enhanced the 
cost of production, and made manufactures impracticable — Ruinous 
effect of an inflated currrency upon national industry. — Manufactures 
being impracticable, owing to the Bank, industry continues to languish, 
except in the South — Flourishing condition of the South, and large 
emigration to that section. — Efforts to force manufactures by means 
of a high protective Tariff. — Mr. Clay's plan of Tariff and Internal 
Improvements — Defeated during Monroe's administration. — The Tariff 
of 1824. 

Sect. 2. Ruinous influence of the American system upon the 
development of our manufactures. 

I. The Bank and Tariff dwarfed our manufactures by locating them in New 

England. The manner in which this was effected. — The West, by this 
means, diverted from manufactures, to supply the other sections with 
produce. — The disadvantages of a New England location. 

II. The Bank and Tariff dwarf our manufactures through the abnormal 

system they originate — A vast system of interchange between the sec- 
tions. — Its injury to industry : — Rendering vast resources nugatory — 
Levying charges upon productive industry — Enhancing the scale of 
prices by promoting a spirit of speculation — Withdrawing a vast 
amount of capital and population, otherwise engaged in manufactures, 
and embarking them in internal traffic. 

III. The Bank and Tariff dwarf our manufactures by their own direct in- 

fluence in raising the standard of prices. The inflation of the currency 
an injury to productive industry. — The injurious influence of currency 
inflation not compensated by a Tariff: — The enhancement of prices 



* By a latitude of expression, the phrase American System, is used as including the 
Bank, the Tariff, and Internal Improvements. 



THE CONTENTS. 15 

increases the cost of production in the ratio of the increase of prices — 
This causes combinations to force down labor and agricultural produce 
to an inadequate price. 



CHAPTER III. 

INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM IN PERVERTING OUR 

SOCIAL LIFE. 

Sect. 1. Social excitement resultant from our abnormal, forced 
industrial system. 

Influence of commerce in quickening the springs of social life : — An excessive 
commercial activity causes abnormal social excitement. — Effect of our 
excessive internal traffic upon our social life : — Lowered the scale of 
intellect in public life — Promoted social demoralization — Abnormal 
state of Southern society. 

Sect. 2. Oppression of the Industrial population, through our 
abnormal industrial system. 

Oppression of the laboring class. Oppression of Northern labor: — The farm- 
ing population — The city laborers — The factory operatives. — Oppres- 
sion of Southern labor: — The poor whites — The negro population — 
The slave trade between the States — The severance of family ties — The 
subversion of the old relation existing between master and servant — 
Excessive exaction of labor. 



CHAPTEE IT. 

INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM IN EXCITING POLITI- 
CAL ANIMOSITIES. 

Sect. I. The American System, the prolific Source of Political 
Evils. 

Original good-feeling between the sections. — Alarm of the South. — Tariff of 
1824.— Tariff of 1828 :— Extreme Southern excitement— Election of 
Jackson. 

I. The contest over the American System during the Administration op 
Jackson. The balance of parties. — Tactics of the opposing factions — 
Jackson's policy of rotation in office : — Its ruinous effects. — Attack on 
the Bank of the United States. — The breach, with Mr. Calhoun. — The 
contest over the Tariff: — Caution of Jackson — Nullification — The Com- 
promise Tariff. — Contest over the Bank: — Jackson's motley party — Ad- 
vantages of the Bank — The removal of the deposits. — Summary. — 
Character of Jackson. 



16 THE CONTENTS. 

II. Subsequent Contest over the American System. Whig triumph of 
1840: — Death of Harrison prevents the definitive success of their 
measures — Tyler's course — Veto of Bank. — Tariff of 1842. — Election 
of 1844. — Tariff reduced to revenue standard. 

Sect. 2. The Slavery Agitation. 

Sectional animosities growing out of tariff agitation: — Anti-slavery agita- 
tion — Uneasiness of the South — Annexation of Texas — The blunder 
of a war with Mexico — Sectional strife over the annexed territories — 
Compromise of 1850 — The Kansas-Nebraska Act — Anti-slavery party 
formed — Furious agitation — The Kansas strife — The excitability of the 
public mind — All moderate measures fail — Fatal termination of agita- 
tion in war. 



BOOK II. 



Prop. II. Our past violations op the Constitution have reacted most in- 
juriously upon FOREIGN NATIONS : fostering a False Industrial Sys- 
tem throughout the WORLD; gendering dangerous Social Evils; and 
strengthening the cause of Absolutism, rescuing it from ruin, and giving 
birth to a political reaction eminently dangerous to the cause of Liberty and 
Advancement. 

PART I. 

OUR VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION HAVE INJURED 
FOREIGN NATIONS BY FOSTERING A FALSE INDUSTRIAL 
SYSTEM THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. 

CHAPTER I. 

BRITISH MONOPOLY OF COMMERCE. 

Sect. 1. The Elements and Principles of Commerce. 
Sect. 2. British Centralization of Commerce. 

This centralization of commerce based upon our industry. — Extent of the 

British centralization of commerce. — Its injury to the industry of the 

world. 

CHAPTER II. 
BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 

Profits of British mercantile traffic in the products of other countries. — Profits 
of manufactures. — The expenditure of the country — Prevalence of 



THE CONTENTS. 17 

economy — Balance of trade explained — Growth of all branches of 
British enterprise — Loans to foreign nations — Britain ruining the 
world — Crafty utterances of British statesmen — Crafty policy of British 
capitalists — British imperialism of capital — Present prosperity of the 
nations delusive. 



PART II. 

OUR VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION HAVE INJURED 
THE WORLD, BY GENDERING SOCIAL EVILS DANGEROUS 
TO CIVILIZATION. 

CHAPTER I. 

SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 

Origin of the prevailing social excitement. — Forms of social excitement: — No 
repose — Continual agitation. — Mental Deterioration of the Age. — The 
golden mean suited to the germination of Genius. — Great men of for- 
mer ages. — The decay of poesy — Of oratory — Of literature — Of states- 
manship. — Socialistic mania. — Various classes of visionaries: — Politi- 
cal visionaries — Social monomaniacs — Religious monomaniacs — Chris- 
tian apostacy. — Menacing ruin. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 

Necessary result of abnormal system of commerce : — The poor of all countries 
oppressed by it — Especially the poor of Great Britain. — Grades of 
English society. — Aristocracy — Middle Class — Working Class. — Suf- 
fering of the impoverished scions of Nobility — Of Middle Class — Of 
Working Class. — Prevalence of economy : — The Lodging-house sys- 
tem — Hunger — Mutual insurance — Burial customs: — Petty pilfering — 
"Tramps" — Destitution — Poverty un pitied. — Governmental legisla- 
tion : — Licensed Drunkenness— Pawnbrokers — the Poor-house system. 
— Class subordination. — Moral condition of English poor: — Cheating 
and pilfering universal — Drunkenness and crime increasing— Irrelig- 
ion — Heathenism — Degraded vice. — Inadequacy of all measures of 
amelioration: — Only remedy the overthrow of the industrial system 
out of which it arises. 



18 THE CONTENTS. 

PART III. 

OUR UNCONSTITUTIONAL COURSE HAS INJURED THE 
WORLD POLITICALLY : STRENGTHENING ABSOLUTISM ; 
RESCUING IT FROM RUIN ; AND GIVING BIRTH TO A PO- 
LITICAL REACTION EMINENTLY DANGEROUS TO THE 
CAUSE OF LIBERTY 'AND ADVANCEMENT. 

CHAPTER I. 

POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 

The British government in sympathy with Absolutism : — Not a government 
of the people — Rule of Aristocracy. — Historical review. — Origin of the 
House of Commons — Falls under the control of the Nobility — Reform 
Bill of 1832. — Object of the Whigs in framing it — A compromise. — 
Whig and Tory contests. — 'The balance of parties — Triumph of the 
Whigs in 1846 — A motley party — Conservative Whigs — Liberals — 
Liberals hold balance of power — Administrative reforms — Reform agi- 
tation: — Demand of administrative reforms — Parliamentary reform. — 
Whig and Tory intrigues. — Both try to use Reform, to increase party 
strength. Tory intrigue with Liberals: — Its failure. — Whig coalition 
and intrigue — Failure. — Tory accession to power: — The party policy — 
Its certainty of success — Tory triumph definitive. — England, under 
Tory rule committed to Absolutism. 

CHAPTER II. 
POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 

Sect. 1, General Statement oe the Question. 

Disquieting elements of the European system. — Dynastic ambition : — Balance 
of Power. — Restlessness of Nationalities: — The oppressed Nationali- 
ties of Europe. 

Sect. 2. Causes which brought about the Present Condition of 
Europe. 
1. Conquest. 2. The Feudal system. — Feudalism. — Decline of royal author- 
ity. — (1.) Course of events in France: — Wars with English Plantage- 
nets. — Increase of royal power — Consolidation of French territory — 
Loss of the Flemish provinces — (2.) Course of events in England: — 
Consolidation of power. — (3.) Course of events in Germany: — Decline 
of imperial authority — Nobility become sovereign princes — Rise of feu- 
dal house of Austria — Rise of feudal house of Prussia. 



THE CONTENTS. 19 

Sect. 3. Forces in Conflict to Overthrow and Maintain the 
Old Order of things. 

I. First Epoch : Wars of the French Revolution. Monarchs assail 

France — Revolution triumphant under Napoleon — The conqueror em- 
braces the policy of Absolutism — Overthrow, by outbreak of national 
patriotism. '. 

II. Second Epoch: The Rule of Absolutism from 1815 to 1848. The 

•treaties of 1815.: — Holy alliance — Russia the champion of Absolut- 
ism. — Revolutions of 1830: — Absolutism still dominant. 

III. Third Epoch: The successful Aggression of French Progressive 

Ideas from 1848 to 1866. (1.) First Period: The Revolutionary out- 
burst. — French Revolution of 1848: — Agitations throughout Europe — 
Timidity of France — Supremacy of British influence — Suppression of 
popular ebullitions. — Policy of Napoleon III for restoring the Nation- 
ality. — Policy of the despots. — (2.) /Second Period : Napoleon emerges 
from isolation. — Russian ambition : — Crimean war. — (3.) Third Period: 
Napoleon s Restoration of Italian Nationality. — Preliminary measures — 
Victor Emanuel's intrigues — Austrian menace — Napoleon's interven- 
tion — Italian war — Napoleon's cautious policy — Results of the war — 
Conquest of Naples. — Italian excitement against Austria — Napoleon's 
treaty respecting Rome. — German war: — Cession of Venetia. (4.) The 
Napoleonic programme for effecting the national unity of Germany. Ger- 
man agitation upon the Holstein-Schleswig question: — Interference of 
the German Diet — Intervention of Prussia and Austria — Danish war — 
Napoleon's policy. — Ambition of Prussia : — Opposed by all the German 
states — Favored by Napoleon. — Russo-Italian alliance. — Napoleon's 
programme. — German war: — Prussian triumph — Intervention of 
France — Treaty of peace. 



CHAPTER III. 

FOURTH EPOCH IN THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN ABSOLUTISM AND 
PROGRESS: THE IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 

Sect. 1. The Forces at work in Europe. 

T. The impending Outbreak of the Nationalities. — Germany progressing to- 
ward revolution. — Causes which inspire National enthusiasm. — Effect 
of German outbreak — Universal revolution. 

II. The Policy of Absolutism: — To establish the unity of Germany under 
Prussia. — Russia committed to this policy — (1.) By a wish to avert 
revolution: — Absolutism then safe from revolution. (2.) By ambi- 
tion;— Will of Peter the Great — Past Russian policy — Its Austriaa 



20 THE CONTENTS. 

alliance — Its French alliance — Its Prussian alliance. — -Danger to Eu- 
rope of this coalition. 
I III. The Present Posture op Affairs. Prussian policy : — Its absolutist 
principles — Coerced by Napoleon. — Kuinous effect of Tory ascendancy 
in England. — Preparations for war. — Dangerous ascendancy of Abso- 
lutism. 

Sect. 2. The Impending Struggle ; and the Triumph of Absolutism. 
Certainty of an approaching struggle. — Understanding between Russia and 
Prussia : — The aims of this alliance — The Tory Government of Eng- 
land a party to the understanding — Its devotion to Absolutism. — Craft 
of the despots : — Their ostensible aim the union of Germany. — The 
contest imminent. — The attitude of England fatal to the Liberal 
cause: — The triumph of Absolutism assured — Napoleon overmatched. — 
The despots will abuse victory : — France overrun- -Britain subjugated — 
War with America. — Universal dominion a necessity to despotism — 
Its practicability. 



BOOK III. 

THE CRISIS. 

Prop. III. The present is a CRISIS in which the Government of the United 
States may, by a wise and conservative policy, enable Our COUNTRY to 
enter upon a course of Unexampled Prosperity; and exert an influence upon 
FOREIRN AFFAIRS that will arrest the Industrial and Political Evils 
now menacing the World with ruin : But where an ill-advised policy will in- 
volve the COUNTRY in Financial Ruin ; and suffer the WORLD to drift, 
without restraint, into a Chaos of convulsion, threatening with overthrow 
the cause of Human Advancement. 

INTRODUCTION. — THE CRISIS. 

Dangers on every hand : — Industrial — Social — Political. — All have their origin 
in British centralization of industry : — This causes industrial evils — Social 
evils — Political dangers. — Necessity of its overthrow : — This the only rem- 
edy for all evils. — We alone can do it. — Means of effecting it : — We must 
monopolize the cotton manufacture. 



THE CONTENTS. 21 

PART I. 

THE SITUATION; AND ITS CAUSES. 

CHAPTER I. 

A RESUME. Review of the line of causation thus far traced. — First Line of 
causation. — Second line. — Third. — Fourth. — Fifth. — Sixth. — Seventh. 

CHAPTER II. 

EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR— 1. NEGATIVE EVILS. 

Sect. 1. The influence of the over-supply of the Cotton Mar- 
ket upon the institution of Slavery. 

I. Effect upon Slavery in the Border States. Effect upon slavery in 

Maryland and Virginia. — Effect in Kentucky and Missouri. 

II. Effect upon Slavery in the Cotton States. The extinction of slavery 

inevitable from two causes : — The want of space for slave plantations — 
The want of sufficient demand for slave products. 
Sect. 2. The effect of the supply of the Cotton Market upon 
our Manufacturing Industry. 
The West, the seat of manufactures : — Its superior advantages — Britain unable 
to compete. — The United States the manufacturers for the world. — Bless- 
ings of this: — To ourselves — To the world. 

CHAPTER III. 

EVIL RESULTS OF THE WAR: Continued.— 2. POSITIVE EVILS. 

Sec. 1. The War has enabled England to fortify her Central- 
ization of Industry. 

The production of cotton in new fields: — Danger of their superseding the 
South. — Their advantages: — Brazil — The countries around the Medi- 
terranean — Egypt — India. — Danger of our losing the cotton production. 
Sect. 2. The War has weakened us. 

I. By Devastation of the South and prostration of Southern Industry. 

II. By the National Debt it has accumulated. 

III. By seating the Latitudinarian Constructionists firmly in power. 

CHAPTER IV. 

POSITIVE EVILS. Continued.— RUINOUS RADICAL POLICY. 

Sect 3. Policy of Radicals, subversive of Republicanism. 
I. Establishing a Centralization. Reaction against them in the North. — Their 
aim to subject the South. — They crush all opposition : — Intimidation of 
Executive — Of Supreme Court — Subversion of State Governments — 



22 THE CONTENTS. 

Confiscation — Universal negro suffrage — Elections in all the States to be 
controlled by Federal bayonets — Subversion of the Constitution. — Com- 
bination of New England manufacturers and Southern negroes. — Sway 
of a faction imminent. — Eule of the sword. — Danger of the West. 

ii. radicalism like all centralizations — administers the government 

in the interests of its two constituencies, — the southern negro, 
and the Northern Capitalist : to the ruin of the National Indus- 
try; and the Oppression of the Northern Industrial Class. — They 
are ruining the country in the desire to court the Negro. — Demoralization of 
Southern labor — Class antagonisms fomented — Eadical emissaries — 
Vagrancy promoted — Confiscation promised. — This misrule ruining the 
country. 2. Their Revenue System is ruining the country fur the benefit 
of the Northern Capitalist. — Reckless appropriations. — Extravagant ex- 
penditure. — Odious and unjust revenue system: — Taxes levied exclu- 
sively upon industry and the laboring class — The tariff a bonus to the 
capitalist. — Oppression of industry: — Oppression of the laboring 
class — Reduplicated taxation of the poor. 

Sect. 2. Eadical System of Finance is promoting an excessive 
Rise op Prices, and is ruining our Productive Industry. 

I. Rise of Prices — Caused by: — Inflation of currency — Oppressive Tariff — 

Ruinous system of internal taxation. — Operation of these causes. 

II. The Inflation of Prices ruinous of every branch of Productive In- 

dustry. It oppresses every industrial class: — The capitalists engaged 
in mechanical production — The agriculturist — The laboring class.— 
The inflation of prices is ruining our productive industry: — Our 
manufactures unable to compete with foreign industry — Our ship- 
building interest almost annihilated — Improvements stopped — Our ag- 
riculture depressed — Breadstuff trade declined — The growth of cot- 
ton unprofitable — Will be abandoned. — We cannot compete with for- 
eign industry — Policy of the Radicals ruining the country. — Carlyle. 



PART II. 

OUR TRUE POLICY— ITS ADVANTAGES.— ITS NECESSITY. 

CHAPTER I. 

OUR TRUE POLICY.— OUR OBJECT— TO WREST THE COTTON MAN- 
UFACTURE FROM GREAT BRITAIN. 

Sect. 1. Measures Necessary to promote the Growth and Manu- 
facture of Cotton. 
I. Measures necessary to make the Growth and Manufacture of Cotton 
safe branches of business. A reliable Labor System for the South.— 



THE CONTENTS. 23 

Negro labor adapted to cotton culture. — The indolence of the race: — 
Negroes in Jamaica — South America — St. Domingo — Our Northern 
States — These instances not a fair test. — Superior advantages of negro 
in the South. — Ruinous policy of the Radicals: — Its influence upon 
the negro population — Their demoralization. — A change of policy ne- 
cessary. 
II. Measures necessary to make the Growth and Manufacture of Cotton 
profitable. Two ways of making a business profitable: to increase 
the price of commodities; or to diminish the cost of production. — The 
price of commodities limited by British competition — We must dimin- 
ish, the cost of production. 1. The first essential to cheap manufactures 
is the location of our manufactories in the West. — Advantages of the 
West over New England. — State aid. 2. The prime essential to cheap 
production is the reduction of the entire rate of prices prevailing in the 
country. — To this end. — (1.) We must remodel the Tariff 1 and change 
altogether our system of protection : — Objections answered. — Full dis- 
cussion deferred. — (2.) The public revenue should be raised chiefly by a 
tax upon property. — Justice of a property tax. — Expediency of a prop- 
erty tax : — It will embark capital in productive industry — It will tend 
to lower the standard of prices. — (3.) The excessive issues of Paper 
Money must be withdrawn from circulation, and a Specie Currency or its 
Equivalent be established. — [1.] The necessity of establishing a specie 
currency : — All measures useless without it. — Errors confuted. [2.] 
Measures necessary for the establishment of a Specie Currency — A 
bank note currency objectionable — A specie currency or its equivalent 
essential. — Difficulties of our position : — Specie drain — For interest — 
For commercial balance ; — The National Banks. — The proposed plan : — 
Its freedom of objection — Its advantages. — 3. We should give peculiar 
advantages to our cotton interest. — Cotton lands and factories should be 
exempt from taxation. 

Sect. 2. Measures necessary to prevent Great Britain erom 
destroying our cotton industry. 

I. Financial Measures necessary for Self-Protection. 1. We must stop the 

exportation of Specie. — Our immense exportation of specie — Its ruin- 
ous influence — The basis of English prosperity. — 2. We must forbid the 
further exportation of bonds : — The balance of trade against us — Rapid 
exportation of bonds— $1,450,000,000 now abroad. 

II. The Government must Regulate our Commerce with Foreign Nations. 

1. Change of the Warehouse System necessary. 2. A Discriminating 
Tariff against England necessary. — Constitutionality of such a Tariff. — 
Justice of such a Tariff: — British selfish policy — Her Tariff against our 
industry. — Expediency of such a tariff: — A general Tariff nugatory — 
Discriminative tariff effective against British competition. 



24 THE CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER II. 

BENEFITS OF THIS POLICY. 

Sect. 1. The rapid development op our Manufactures would soon 
wrest the commercial supremacy prom england. 

I. First Era: Advantages of our Manufactures in our own Market under 

the measures proposed. — Little foreign competition. — Cotton manufac- 
ture. — Its benefits to other branches of manufacture. 

II. Second Era: Advantages of our Manufactures in the Markets of the 

World. — Superiority of the West : — Cheaper raw material — Cheaper 
labor — Cheaper provisions — Lower taxes — A lower scale of profits. 
Sect. 2. Advantages op our Industrial Supremacy. 

I. Advantages to Ourselves. — Industrial benefits : — Benefit to agriculture — 

Breadstuffs — Cotton. — Benefits to the West — The East. — Social advan- 
tages: — Tranquillity — Elevation of labor. — Political benefits: — No 
sectional antagonisms — No bickerings respecting constitutional inter- 
pretation. 

II. Advantages to the World. 1. Advantages derived to Industry. The 

overthrow of British centralization — Fair commercial principles. — We 
should benefit the world by establishing 1 free trade: — Free trade impos- 
sible with British monopoly — Our commerce a blessing. — We should 
stimulate the industry of the Tropics: — Vast consumption of tropical 
luxuries. — 2. Benefits to social life: — Excitement quelled — Elevation of 
labor — 3. Political benefits : — The dangers from Absolutism averted. 

CHAPTER III. 
EUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUE PRESENT POLICY. 
Sect. 1. The Euin op America. 

I. The Political Ruin of the Country. 1. The political ruin of the South : — 

Negro rule — Confiscation — Ruin of the negro population. 2. Political 
ruin of the West : — Subjection to New England — Negro bayonets — Dr. 
Bacon's views — Daniel Webster — Danger of convulsions. 

II. The Industrial Ruin of the Country. Overthrow of Southern indus- 

try : — Loss of the cotton planting. — Destruction of the export and im- 
port trade. — Depopulation of cities. — Stagnation of agriculture.- -Ruin 
of the shipping interest. — Extravagance. 

III. The Social Ruin of the Country. — Social demoralization : — Corruption 

in public life — Demoralization in the South — In the North — The labor- 
ing poor. — Danger of social convulsion. 

Sect. 2. The Ruin op Christendom. 

The political reaction in Europe. — The Tory policy. — The Luxemburg im- 
broglio. — The coming conflict. — Overthrow of Liberalism. — This 
the World's Crisis. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The attention of the student of history is frequently arrested by 
crises in human progress, which give to events a new direction, and 
prove the pivots on which advancement hinges. 

The great eras of history usually have their origin in revolution, 
and give birth to new forms of social order, which continue until the 
movement of the age, progressing toward a new era, hastens their 
decline. In each successive era some nation is the recognized leader 
in the career of progress. The circle of its influence is all-embrac- 
ing ; its policy determines the course of events ; either diffusing 
blessings by its wisdom and beneficence, or wrecking progress by 
its blunders, and spreading desolation and ruin by its crimes. 

The influence of the country that leads the march of advancement 
is most potent in one of those crises when an era is approaching its 
close. The periods of transition, when the scepter is passing from 
the grasp that has long swayed it, to the hands of a young and vig- 
orous nation, are especially pregnant with destiny to the world. 
Our age is such a transition period. 

The Europe of the Middle Ages is rapidly passing away. Feudal- 
ism, with its singular mingling of tyranny and freedom, is worn out, 
and has, for three-quarters of a century, been convulsing Europe with 
the throes of approaching dissolution. Two hostile principles are 
struggling for the supremacy, each ambitious of seizing the scepter 
falling from the palsied grasp of Feudalism. On the one hand is 
Liberal Monarchy, seeking to combine the principles of monarchy 
and republicanism, vesting in the people all legislative authority, 
while the executive functions are exercised by an hereditary sove- 
reign. On the other, is Absolute Despotism, aiming to crush the 
liberal aspirations of the age by military force, and re-establish Ab- 
solutism unalloyed by admixture with freedom. 

The struggle between these two principles has been progressing 
for three-quarters of a century. The crisis of this struggle is now 

(25) 



26 the world's crisis. 

rapidly approaching, which will finally decide whether Europe shall 
be ruled by Liberal government, or by unmixed Despotism, flushed 
with victory, and aspiring to universal dominion. The next few 
years will determine this question so pregnant with destiny to the 
world. The present is the most important crisis that has ever 
occurred in the history of nations. 

The conflicting principles are even now arraying their forces for 
the final and decisive conflict. The balance of power and of in- 
fluence rests with our own country. If we are true to ourselves and 
to our destiny, our weight in the doubtful scale will determine the 
issue in favor of advancement. If we continue the policy which 
has of late years marked our national existence, we shall continue 
to be a cipher in the list of nations, and Absolutism will triumph 
in the impending struggle, dominate Europe with autocratic sway, 
and menace our country with the power of the combined world. 
The political and industrial policy of the United States, in the 
present exigency, will determine the destiny of the world for ages 
to come. We are now in The World's Crisis. 

It will be the aim of the following pages to show that the past 
policy of our country has been destructive of our own best interests, 
and has brought the nations of Christendom into a condition dan- 
gerous to enlightened progress ; that it has marred our own indus- 
trial and political destiny, has warped the industry of the world, and 
retarded the political advancement of the nations, until a crisis has 
risen which threatens to prostrate mankind beneath the sway of 
Despotism ; and that, if the operation of the same causes be con- 
tinued yet a little longer, the financial ruin of our own country will 
be consummated, and Despotism will dominate Europe with absolute 
sway, and force us to engage in a long and doubtful struggle for 
liberty and religion. 

The subject will be discussed under the following propositions : 

PROPOSITION I. 

The Government of the United States has, throughout almost its 
entire career, maintained A system of administration in violation of 
the fundamental principles of the Constitution : With the effect 
upon HOME AFFAIRS of tarnishing the National Honor; 



INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION. 27 

dwarfing our Industrial Prosperity; warping our Social Life; 
and plunging the country into frightful Political Evils. 

PROPOSITION II. 

These past violations of the Constitution have reacted most inju- 
riously upon Foreign Nations: fostering a false Industrial System 
throughout the World ; gendering dangerous Social Evils ; and 
strengthening the cause of Absolutism, rescuing it from ruin, and 
giving birth to a 'political reaction eminently dangerous to the cause of 
Liberty and Advancement 

PROPOSITION III. 

The present is a CRISIS in which the Government of the United 
States may, by a wise and conservative policy, enable the country to 
enter upon a course of Unexampled Prosperity ; and exert an in- 
fluence upon FOREIGN AFFAIRS that will arrest the Industrial 
and Political Evils now menacing the World with ruin : But where 
an ill-advised policy will involve the COUNTRY in Financial Ruin; 
and suffer the WORLD to drift without restraint into a Chaos of 
convulsion, threatening with overthrow the cause of Human Ad- 
vancement. 

The foregoing propositions attribute to the United States a most 
important influence upon the destinies of the world. Though 
Americans are obnoxious to the charge of national vanity, yet very 
many will, no doubt, be disposed to withhold credence from proposi- 
tions which seem to declare our country the great world-radiating 
center of influence. 

Before entering upon the discussion of these propositions, we 
will prepare the way by an Introductory Dissertation. 



28 THE world's crisis. 



INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION, 



THE UNITED STATES A NATION OF PROVIDENCE. 

The facts which demonstrate our country to be the favored in- 
strument of a benign Providence, are so numerous and striking, as 
to arrest the attention of every thoughtful student of our history. 
At the close of the Revolutionary war, a philosophic observer of our 
career must have been impressed with the thought that a country, 
whose past history presented such signal marks of divine favor and 
protection, was destined to some great work. Only subsequent 
events, however, developing more clearly the sphere of our influ- 
ence, marked us the predestined leader of the nations in the path 
of Republican Liberty. 

The two following chapters will be devoted to the development 
of the remarkable circumstances in our career which point us out 
as destined to an exalted influence upon the course of future 
events. 



THE COLONIZATION OF AMERICA. 29 

CHAPTER I. 

FORESHADOWINGS OF AN EXALTED DESTINY. 



Section I. — The Circumstances of the Colonization of America. 

Among the many facts which point to the United States as a 
favored nation of Providence, destined to exert a powerful influence 
upon the destinies of the world, not the least remarkable are the 
circumstances attending the planting of the Colonies upon the 
American coast. 

The two great events of modern times — the Discovery of Amer- 
ica, and the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century — filled the same 
generation with astonishment. The nations of Northern Europe 
were so profoundly agitated by the great Religious movement, that 
they gave little heed to the new career of discovery opened to the 
enterprise of the Old "World. The preponderant power of the 
Papal nations of Southern Europe, and their aggressive temper, 
occupied the Protestant states with measures of self-defense, to the 
exclusion of commercial enterprise. For nearly a century, the 
Papal states enjoyed a monopoly of Colonial enterprise, and were 
busily engaged taking possession of the newly-discovered regions 
of the Eastern and Western hemispheres. While the Portuguese 
turned their attention to the East Indies, America became the thea- 
ter of French and Spanish enterprise. 

It is remarkable that the adventurers of those nations were 
turned aside from the most valuable regions in the New World, 
leaving it for the colonization of Protestant races. They were im- 
patient of immediate returns. The mineral wealth of the Tropics 
tempted the Spaniards far to the southward ; the French traders 
were attracted to the inhospitable shores of the St. Lawrence, and 
the frozen lakes of the North, by the abundant peltries of the na- 
tives. Between the Colonies of the two adventurous nations lay a 
broad wilderness tract, stretching from the Lakes to the Gulf of 



SO THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

Mexico, unoccupied by either, except a feeble colony of each upon 
its extreme Southern border. 

The declaration that this territory remained unoccupied because 
it was the finest region on the continent, may seem paradoxical — yet 
such was the fact. The immediate commercial advantages sought 
by these adventurers, were found in the luxurious productions of 
the Tropics, and the furs of the frozen regions. For these com- 
modities Europe afforded a ready market. The intermediate region, 
blessed with the same salubrious climate as Europe, was adapted 
only to the productions of the temperate zone. Of these, the 
teeming soil of Europe yielded an abundant supply. Adventurers 
turned aside to the frozen zone and the tropics, for whose produc- 
tions they found an European market, and for almost a century the 
finest region in America lay an unexplored wilderness. 

The world-roving avarice of the Spaniard, indeed, penetrated its 
wilds in search of gold ; but the disasters of De Soto, and the re- 
pulse of Ponce de Leon, warned them away to regions more enticing 
to avarice, and less vigorously defended by native courage. The 
attempts of Spain to effect a lodgment upon the Carolina coast, and 
to establish a colony in Georgia, were frustrated in a manner strik- 
ingly providential. 

Thus did Providence reserve the chosen land for nobler colonists 
than swarms of bigoted, avaricious adventurers. The region re- 
mained unoccupied until the Papal nations, having spent their en- 
ergies in commercial enterprise, and wasted their strength in boot- 
less religious wars, suffered the Protestant states to rest in peace. 
The wilderness between the Lakes and the Gulf was now the only 
region open to their occupation. So little inducement, however, 
did it offer to commercial enterprise, that few were willing to for- 
sake the comforts of civilization for a waste, peopled by daring 
savages, and yielding no products marketable in the Old World. A 
single colony (Virginia), formed on the coast, served to establish 
the claim of England, and to display, in the ruin of its founder, and 
the abject misery of the settlers, the hopelessness of the coloniza- 
tion enterprise. The country remained unsought, until intolerance 
in Protestant countries rendered necessary an asylum for the ob- 
jects of religious persecution. Then the desert region, from which 



THE PREPARATORY ERA. 31 

Papal adventurers turned aside, remained the only place of refuge ; 
and the Frank and the Scandinavian, the Hollander and the Briton, 
the Norman, the Saxon, the Celt, all fled to the asylum of perse- 
cuted virtue. The Scotch Covenanter and the French Huguenot, 
the Welsh Baptist and the English Quaker, the Swedish Lutheran 
and the Dutch Calvinist — all fugitives for conscience' sake — mingled 
with the Puritan and the Episcopalian, each flying in turn from the 
persecution of the other. All planted their colonies, side by side, 
on the desert coast. 

The first settlers of other countries, both in ancient and modern 
times, have been adventurers in search of wealth, or expatriated 
criminals and degraded beings gladly spared at home, The emi- 
grants to America alone were composed of the best material of 
their respective countries. Only the courageous would brave the 
dangers of new settlements surrounded by treacherous savages. 
Only generous spirits could so appreciate the blessings of freedom 
as to prefer the hardships and self-denial of the free wilderness, to 
the comparative ease they left behind, in lands of intolerance and 
oppression. Only deep piety and sterling independence t)f char- 
acter would have foregone all advantages of worldly position for 
the sake of civil and religious liberty. 

The same commercial disadvantages of a temperate climate and 
productions similar to those of Europe, which reserved the region 
for the exiles of persecution, preserved the hardy virtues of the 
colonists during the entire Colonial era. The Colonies had no ex- 
traneous advantages to force their growth. Colonial life was an 
existence of patriarchal simplicity. There was little inducement 
to enterprise, no opening for speculation. The country attracted 
few adventurers in search of wealth — the severe, even stern char- 
acter of the colonists repelled the dissipated and the frivolous. The 
growth of the Colonies was slow; the virtue of their inhabitants was 
preserved by the ordeal of hardship and danger. During a cen- 
tury and a half they slowly developed from infancy to vigorous 
adolescence. Their development was sufficiently rapid for healthy 
growth, but slow enough to prevent the hardy virtues of poverty 
from being supplanted by the hot vices of prosperity. The people 
were the healthy growth of a temperate clime — neither stunted by 



32 the world's crisis. 

wintry poverty, nor forced into the rank, noxious growth of tropical 
luxuriance. Only such a people — too poor for luxury, but rich 
enough for hardy independence — were fitted to meet the great crisis 
they were approaching, — to emerge triumphant from the sufferings 
of an unequal struggle, and to plant deep and enduring the pillars 
of Constitutional Liberty. 

Sect. II. — The Revolutionary War. 

The footprints of Providence are distinctly visible in our war of 

Independence— both in the preparatory era, and in the fluctuations 

of the conflict. 

(I.) The Preparatory Era. 

Twenty years before the American Revolution, a successful revolt 
would have been impossible. 

In the middle of the Eighteenth Century, the English Colonists were 
eminently loyal to the British crown. Nothing seemed more im- 
probable than an attempt to free themselves from the sway of the 
mother country. 

If the* attempt seemed in the highest degree improbable, its suc- 
cess appeared a manifest impossibility. The colonists were des- 
titute of the martial spirit, and of military training; their mutual 
isolation, varied only with antagonisms, rendered them incapable of 
concerted action. 

Even the removal of these disabilities would not have rendered 
successful revolt more practicable. The united strength of the 
Colonies was wholly inadequate to a contest with the power of 
Britain. Foreign aid seemed hopeless. France, Spain, and England 
were the three great Colonial Powers of Europe. France and Spain 
were the only maritime Powers that could render any assistance to 
the Colonies in a struggle with England. But their Colonial policy 
rendered their interest identical with that of Britain. Self interest 
must have induced both those powers to discountenance any Colonial 
revolt, which, however it might weaken a rival, was a precedent to 
be imitated by their own dependencies. 

To bring about successful revolution, it was necessary that the 
Colonies should be brought into concerted action, animated with 
martial ardor, and inspired with confidence by military training, and 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 33 

the consciousness of their united strength; that events should take 
such a turn as to influence the two great Colonial Powers, France 
and Spain, to lend their aid to the revolted Colonies of Britain; and 
finally, all things being prepared for the result, that the Colonies, 
remarkable for their loyalty, should be driven into revolt. 

All these ends were effected by the Old French War, the grand 
prelude to the Revolution, and which may be termed the cradle of 
Independence. 

Pressed by the necessities of the contest, England was compelled 
to abandon the astute policy which suffered the military spirit of the 
Colonies to slumber. She was forced to summon them to her assist- 
ance, and rely on their active co-operation for the success of her 
arms on the American continent. The feeble efforts put forth by 
England, and the inefficiency of the royal commanders and troops, 
caused the colonists to depreciate the prowess of the Mother 
Country; while the efficiency of the Colonial auxiliaries served to 
exaggerate their estimate of their own power. Their awakened 
martial ardor, and the consciousness of new found vigor, roused 
their courage to a pitch that would, upon occasion, nerve them for a 
contest with the power of Britain. 

In this war also the public eye was attracted to the great qualities 
of "Washington. And the only British general whose promptitude 
and ardor might have crushed the incipient revolt of the Colonies, 
fell in the arms of victory on the heights of Quebec. 

In this war, moreover, Great Britain stripped France of her 
American possessions, and thus reversed the policy of her great 
colonial rival. The motive was removed, that would have secured to 
Britain the sympathy, and, perhaps, the assistance of France, in a 
struggle with revolted Colonies, and that power was inspired with 
the jealous desire of humbling, in every possible manner, the too 
aspiring supremacy of her ancient rival. The ascendancy acquired 
by Britain in this war awakened the jealousy of Europe. Spain, 
in the hope of curbing her imperial aspirations, was influenced to 
act in^ opposition to the principles of her own Colonial policy, and 
was ready to unite with France, in virtue of a family alliance, to aid 
the Colonies in their struggle for independence. 

When everything was thus prepared for a successful revolution, 
3 



3J: 

the haughty Aristocracy which ruled the government of Britain 
began, with singular blindness, a course of oppression which alienated 
the affections of the Colonies, and gradually prepared them for 
revolt. Conceiving that they ought to share the burdens of a 
a war from which they derived great advantages, they proceeded to 
levy taxes upon them at the will of Parliament. Taxation without 
representation was the system of Roman Imperialism, by which the 
Provinces were made to bear the exclusive burdens of public ad- 
ministration. A system which would have converted Britain into a 
military empire, swayed by an aristocracy as haughty as that of 
Rome, occasioned much discontent. Appeals for redress, beginning 
in humble petition, and progressing to remonstrance, first calm 
and then indignant, were made in vain. The policy of the British 
aristocracy at length outwearied the patience of the Colonies, con- 
verted their devoted loyalty into resentment, and led to outbreaks 
of popular violence, and finally to systematic revolt. 

IT. The War of Independence. 

Never were combatants more unequally matched, than in the 
American War of Independence. 

The British officer who boasted that with five regiments he would 
march through the Colonies, quelling all opposition, undervalued 
the courage of the Americans. But no military man, in view of 
the position and comparative resources of the belligerents, would 
have believed that the Colonies could offer any continued resistance 
to the power of England. Imperial power, against Colonial depend- 
ence — sixteen millions, against three — unlimited resources, against 
barrenness of wealth and all material of war — disciplined soldiers, 
against raw militia — seemed to render the idea of a successful 
struggle improbable in the highest degree. 

Even the extent of territory, so far from being advantageous to 
the Colonies, as has sometimes been supposed, was an important 
advantage to the invader. The sparsely-peopled territory, and the 
impracticable roads, rendered supplies difficult of obtainment for 
the Americans. The immense distances to be traversed, embar- 
rassed all military operations of our army, whose movements were 
embarrassed with inefficient wagon trains ; while the British, mas- 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 3d 

ters of the sea, might transfer their operations from point to point 
at will, availing themselves of the numerous deep bays to penetrate 
the narrow settlements wherever they chose, and every where find- 
ing an abundant source of supplies in their fleet. 

The Continental troops were never equal to the British veterans in 
the open field. They were never able, at any period of the war, to 
prevent the invaders from traversing the country at will. With 
their superiority in resources, in position, and in the discipline of 
their troops, the British leaders had only to conduct their move- 
ments upon some intelligent plan, steadily adhered to, and the sub- 
jugation of the Colonies was not of difficult achievement. 

Three plans were open to adoption. The simplest in design, and 
easiest of execution, was a march across New England from Boston 
to New York, driving the Continental forces before them, and sup- 
pressing resistance in their rear by military posts to keep the 
country in subjection. Their command of the sea would have en- 
abled them to force a retreat by flank movements from the Sound 
in rear of the American forces ; but even before an attack in front, 
Washington must have retreated from Boston, as he was afterward 
forced to do from New York. New England paralyzed, the other 
Colonies could have offered but a feeble resistance ; and a south- 
ward march from New York would have reduced the disheartened 
insurgents to submission in a single campaign. 

A movement from the extreme Southern Colonies would have 
been equally effectual. No resistance worthy of the name could 
have been made south of Virginia ; New England would not have co- 
operated heartily at a point so remote from her borders ; the royal 
authority would have been restored in the Southern states, almost 
without resistance. Then the Middle states, discouraged, and over- 
awed by assaults from the South, and from the deep bays on the 
seaboard, must soon have been overrun. Then New England, stand- 
ing unsupported, and vital at every point, could have made no pro- 
longed resistance. 

The third plan was to pierce the Colonies at some point, so as to 
dissever them, and then subdue the detached portions in detail. No 
force of the Americans could have prevented the British commander 
from seizing and fortifying the line of the Hudson, when either 



36 

New England, or the Middle states might have been overrun in de- 
tail, without the possibility of concentrating the Colonial forces for 
the common defense. 

The British commander first made Boston his base of operations. 
But intimidated by the skirmish at Lexington, and the defense of 
Bunker Hill, he suffered himself to be cooped up in the town, for 
months, by an army destitute of ammunition, and was at length 
forced to evacuate the place. The next Spring, when the arrival 
of large reinforcements had given Lord Howe an overwhelming 
superiority of force, instead of resuming the enterprise from the 
original base, the British commander resolved to transfer the seat 
of war to New York. This decision was an abandonment of the 
first, and best plan of overrunning the Colonies. It proved the sal- 
vation of America ; for if Washington had been driven from Boston 
as disastrously as he afterward was from New York, the catastrophe 
must have proved fatal to the American cause. Lexington and Bunker 
Hill saved America by their effect upon the minds of the invader. 

In abandoning the first plan of overrunning the Colonies by a 
march across New England from Boston, Lord Howe adopted the 
plan of piercing them on the line of the Hudson, with a view 
to their subjugation in detail. The vicinity of the point to Can- 
ada, and the ease with which it might be held by a line of posts, 
determined their choice. This was the plan of campaign for 1776. 
With it was combined a movement against the Southern states. 
The loyalists were numerous in North Carolina, and were ready to 
rise in arms upon the appearance of a British force upon the coast. 
A powerful force was to be sent to occupy North Carolina, paralyze 
the Colonies to the South, and move against Virginia at the head 
of the loyal strength of the Southern Colonies. 

The plan was a good one. 

But the movement against the South failed through the preva- 
lence of contrary winds ! The loyalists of North Carolina, weary 
of awaiting the arrival of the expected British fleet, rose in arms ; 
and the expedition arrived on the coast only in time to witness the 
suppression of the movement. Disappointed here, the British fleet 
turned their arms against South Carolina. Charleston was protected 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 37 

only by a fort at the entrance of the harbor. This fort passed, the 
city had no alternative but surrender. But instead of passing the 
fort into the open harbor, as might easily have been done, the fleet 
engaged it and were eventually repulsed. Thus, by a series of 
mishaps and blunders, the campaign of 1776, against the Southern 
states, resulted in total failure. 

The same prevalence of contrary winds, which frustrated the 
campaign against the South, prevented the complete success of the 
British movements upon the Hudson. The arrival of reinforce- 
ments was delayed so long that the campaign was not opened until 
the last of August. 

The first movements of the British were completely successful. 
Washington was driven from Long Island, and compelled to retreat 
from New York, narrowly escaping capture, and the broken rem- 
nant of his army was forced to retreat precipitately across New 
Jersey. 

The retreat of Washington left the Hudson open, and the British 
had only to ascend it, take possession of the heights, and the object 
of the campaign was accomplished, and the Colonies hopelessly 
severed. 

But their easy triumph tempted them to turn aside from the 
prime object of the campaign. Neglecting to seize the heights of 
the Hudson, the British pressed in pursuit of the American army 
across the Jerseys, in the hope of annihilating it, and terminating 
the war at a blow. Had the campaign commenced two months ear- 
lier, they might have succeeded, and the flight of Washington across 
the Jerseys, vigorously pressed, might have resulted in the disband- 
ing of his army. But the advance of winter arrested the operations 
of the enemy, and afforded Washington the opportunity to strike 
the blows of Trenton and Princeton, and to move with impunity upon 
the line of British advance — events which raised the declining hopes 
of the Colonies, and encouraged them to prepare with vigor for the 
campaign of 1777. 

Withdrawn from their design of seizing the line of the Hudson 
by the inviting prospect of utterly crushing the fugitive army of 
Washington, when this aim had failed, it was clearly the policy of 
the British commander to resume, in 1777, the design of the pre- 



38 

vious campaign, and bend all his energies to the accomplishment of 
the plan of penetrating the country along the line of the Hudson. 
This was the plan of campaign devised by the British Ministry, and 
General Burgoyne was sent to Canada with a fine army, to co-ope- 
rate with Howe by descending from Canada to meet the British 
army ascending the Hudson from New York. These combined ope- 
rations seemed to menace the Colonies with almost inevitable ruin. 

But, with a fatuity that looks like judicial blindness, Howe, instead 
of moving up the Hudson to co-operate with Burgoyne, at the mo- 
ment when that general began his southward march from Canada, 
left New York, abandoning the movement on the line of the Hudson, 
and transferred his army to the Chesapeake for a movement upon 
Philadelphia. He was successful, as might have been expected. He 
beat the American army in every encounter, and took possession of 
Philadelphia. But his blows were not aimed at a vital point; and 
while he was winning barren victories, Burgoyne was left to execute 
alone the grand operation of the campaign on which the success of 
the contest depended. 

With ordinary celerity of movement, Burgoyne might have 
reached New York, and achieved, at least in part, the objects of the 
campaign. But his dilatory march gave the militia time to rally in 
his front; the defeat of detachments, injudiciously exposed to disas- 
ter, encouraged raw troops to resist his veterans ; and his blunder 
in crossing to the right bank of the Hudson allowed the Americans 
to check his march, and enabled them finally to capture his army. 

Thus two of the plans for the subjugation of the American Colo- 
nies miscarried through the blundering incapacity of the British 
generals. They were almost always successful in the field, but vic- 
tory only enticed them into injudicious situations, and exposed them 
to disasters worse than would have resulted from defeat. Their 
superiority of strength was frittered away in purposeless enterprises. 

But superiority of force, however unskillfully directed, must press 
with crushing weight upon the feebler combatant. The blundering 
prowess of the British repeatedly reduced the Americans to extrem- 
ities, from which they escaped so narrowly, and by chances so singu- 
lar, that we must regard them as providential interventions. 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 39 

Iii the first place, if the British had remained in Boston until 
reinforcements arrived, they must have driven Washington from 
Boston and across New England, as they afterward drove him from 
New York and across the Jerseys. Such an event must have been 
fatal to the American cause. The course of events which issued in 
their evacuation of the place, and the consequent abandonment of 
their original plan of operations, was singular in the extreme. They 
were besieged in Boston for months by an army destitute of powder, 
and, strange to say, never felt the position of their inactive adver- 
saries by a sally. And when Washington, having received rein- 
forcements, took possession of Dorchester Heights, a storm arose, 
to suspend the attack of the enemy until the works were rendered 
too strong to be assaulted — leaving them no alternative but to 
evacuate the city. 

But it is especially remarkable how their campaign of 1776, which 
threatened the colonies with ruin, was thwarted by contrary winds. 
The Southern campaign miscarried from this cause, and their victo- 
ries in the North were rendered fruitless by the delay thus caused 
in opening the campaign. The circumstances attending the retreat 
of the beaten army of Washington from Long Island are especially 
remarkable. The prevalence of a northeast wind prevented the 
British fleet, for two days, from entering the bay, and cutting off the 
retreat of the Americans across the bay to New York. The same 
wind, which prevented the entrance of the British vessels, was 
unfavorable to the retreat of the Americans from their dangerous 
position. But when they were ready to execute the movement, the 
wind suddenly veered round to a favorable quarter; a dense fog — 
extraordinary at the season of the year — vailed their embarkation; 
and a loyalist, who sought to convey to the enemy intelligence of 
the movement, was detained, upon his arrrival at their camp, by a 
Hessian guard who could not understand his eager statements, until 
it was too late to prevent the escape of the army. The retreat of 
the army from New York Island might have been easily intercepted ; 
but the strange delay of the enemy allowed Washington to extricate 
himself, though by the narrowest chance. A few days after, the 
dispirited army lay in the grasp of Howe at White Plains; but 
incessant rains came on, which compelled the British general to 



40 

defer his intended attack, and gave Washington an opportunity to 
retire to a stronger position. When, later in the campaign, Wash- 
ington was driven across the Delaware with the broken remnants 
of his army, and a single effort would have enabled the enemy to 
cross the river, and complete the overthrow of the American cause 
in the dispersion of the little army which alone sustained it, the 
advanced season induced the British to wait the freezing of the 
stream — a delay which resulted in the subsequent turn of fortune 
that robbed the British of the fruits of all their victories. 

Washington availed himself of the respite to summon to his 
standard the forces left on the Hudson, without which he was too 
weak to strike a blow. General Lee, however, who commanded that 
detachment, instead of promptly obeying orders and advancing to 
the aid of Washington, was meditating some rash adventure, when 
the fortunate capture of his person by the British placed Sullivan 
in command of his army, who promptly effected a junction with the 
commander-in-chief, and enabled him to take the offensive against 
the extended British cantonments, and electrify the public mind by 
the brilliant success of Trenton. Soon afterward Washington was 
placed in a position of supreme peril : the Delaware River was in 
his rear, and the superior army of Cornwallis in his front, separated 
only by an insignificant stream. It Was impossible to hold his 
position, and seemed equally impossible to move his army through 
muddy winter roads. A sudden freeze enabled him to move round 
the position of the enemy, and make that bold march which rescued 
his army, and saved the cause of Independence. 

These providential events, together with the failure of Howe to 
co-operate with Burgoyne — the slow movements, and the injudicious 
route of the latter general — and the failure of Clinton to move to his 
relief while waiting reinforcements from England, caused the failure 
of the British arms in two campaigns, which, according to every 
human probability, ought to have issued in the overthrow of the 
American cause. 

The capture of Burgoyne's army encouraged France and Spain to 
intervene in behalf of the Colonies. Still, so great was the disparity 
of resources, that even the assistance of those Powers would not have 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 41 

availed to save the cause of Independence, had not a series of 
events, which must be regarded as providential, contributed to further 
the result. Want of space will not allow any connected narrative 
of events, and will only permit brief allusions to the singular prov- 
idences which repeatedly saved the cause of Independence from 
ruin. 

The French were always inferior to the English in naval skill. 
A single decisive naval defeat would have deprived the Americans 
of all the benefits of the French alliance ; and it is remarkable how 
invariably tempests arose to separate the hostile fleets, when on the 
point of a decisive engagement. This occurred repeatedly during 
two or three years. A decisive naval engagement was in this 
manner prevented until the crisis of the war was past ; then the sig- 
nal victory of Rodney, in the West Indies, forever broke the naval 
power of France in the American waters. 

After the capture of Burgoyne, the war languished in the Northern 
states. On two signal occasions, providential events saved the 
languishing cause of the Colonies from blows, which would have 
probably involved irreparable disaster. 

When the American army was engaged in prosecuting the siege 
of the British post upon Newport island, a British fleet was hastening 
to the point to prevent its retreat. Fortunately a contrary wind 
delayed it. The Continental army succeeded, by the narrowest 
chance, in effecting a retreat to the main land before its arrival. 

The success of Arnold's treason would have exposed a large force 
to capture, thrown the line of the Hudson into the hands of the 
British, and exposed the whole American army to disastrous attacks 
in detail. A singular combination of incidents led to the capture 
of Andre, and nipped the treason in the bud. 

After the surrender of Burgoyne, the British transferred their 
active operations to the Southern states. The colonies were now 
almost exhausted. In those states, a large portion of the population 
was loyal to the British crown. The aim of the British was to 
organize this element, and lead it against Virginia, and the exhausted 
Middle states. After achieving signal successes, Lord Cornwallis, 
the British commander, sent a strong force into the mountain region 
of North Carolina, the headquarters of loyalism, for the purpose of 



42 the world's crisis. 

rallying the population to the British standard. The movement 
threatened the most serious danger to the American cause. The 
chance by which it was defeated involved the most remarkable com- 
bination of incidents that occurred during the war. Three detached 
bands of mountaineers assembled in arms at their homes in Virginia, 
East Tennessee and Carolina, and happened to unite without any 
definite object. As they were strong enough to attempt something, 
and as nothing else offered, they decided to march against the British 
detachment operating in the Tory region of North Carolina. Their 
attack annihilated the detachment at King's mountain, and struck 
the southern Tories with such terror that they could never after be 
induced to lend efficient aid to the royal cause. The battle of King's 
mountain was the first check to the British career of victory in the 
South. 

The blow was severe, but it still seemed possible to achieve the 
object of invasion, and suppress all resistance in the Southern states. 
Gates had been defeated, and General Greene was at the head of 
the last army the Americans could bring into the field. Resistance 
was suppressed in Georgia and South Carolina, and Cornwallis re- 
solved to destroy the army of Greene, and place himself in a position 
to carry out the plan of a movement upon Virginia. He detached 
Colonel Tarleton, at the head of his cavalry, against General Mor- 
gan, who commanded a large detachment of Greene's force. The 
defeat of Tarleton by Morgan, at Cowpens, was an unexpected blow, 
and deranged all the plans of Cornwallis, by demoralizing his splen- 
did cavalry, so necessary in the movements he was contemplating. 
Nothing discouraged, however, Cornwallis, with characteristic enter- 
prise, destroyed his heavy baggage, and threw himself upon the 
army of Morgan, now in hasty retreat to effect a junction with 
Greene. Morgan escaped only by the fortunate rise of a stream 
on the night after he had crossed, which interrupted the pursuit for 
two days. Again Cornwallis pressed on in pursuit of Greene, and 
came up with him at the Yadkin, in time to drive the rear-guard 
across the river, with the loss of a great part of the baggage. 
Again a sudden rise in the river interrupted the pursuit ; and while 
Cornwallis made a detour for the purpose of heading the swollen 
stream, Greene pressed forward toward Virginia, and succeeded in 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 43 

crossing the Dan with his rear-guard as the van of the pursuing 
army came in sight. The defeat of Tarleton's cavalry, and the 
fortunate rise of the two rivers just after his army had crossed, 
alone saved the army of Greene from ruin. 

By great efforts, Virginia sent forward reinforcements to the army 
of Greene, with the avowal that these were the last levies that could 
be raised. Thus reinforced, Greene again advanced into North Car- 
olina, where he was attacked and beaten by Cornwallis at Guilford 
Court-house. 

And now the British General adopted a singular resolution. In- 
stead of bringing up reinforcements from South Carolina, and hold- 
ing the territory he had won, he determined to make a flank move- 
ment, and advance on Virginia, leaving Greene to advance again 
upon South Carolina. This decision of Cornwallis proved the 
salvation of the American cause. 

In 1781 the American armies seemed on the eve of disbanding. 
The troops were without pay, ill clad, and famishing. Several mu- 
tinies occurred, which were with difficulty repressed. The most 
extraordinary efforts were necessary to place the army in a position 
to take the field. 

For three years no success had attended the American arms. 
No military operations of importance had occurred in the North, 
while disaster after disaster befel us in the South. French co- 
operation had resulted in nothing. Exhaustion was telling surely, 
upon the Colonial cause. General discouragement prevailed. It 
was become evident that unless some signal success were achieved 
in the campaign of 1781, the cause of Independence was desperate. 
So thoroughly satisfied was Washington of this, that he had re- 
solved upon the desperate venture of assailing the British army in 
New York, in conjunction with the fleet and forces of France. Just 
at this juncture, Cornwallis, at the head of all the British forces in 
the Middle states, placed himself at Yorktown, where a decisive 
blow might be struck against him. It was resolved to make a com- 
bined movement of the French and American forces against his 
army. 

The accurate and extensive combinations necessary to insure its 
success, rendered the siege of Yorktown one of the most critical 



44 THE world's crisis. 

movements of the war. With the resources at their command, the 
British commanders ought to have defeated it, and converted the 
crowning triumph of the Revolution into irretrievable disaster. 

In accordance with the plan of campaign, the French Admiral, 
De Grasse, steered from the West Indies for the American coast. 
Had the British Admiral upon that station followed him, his fleet, 
united with the British squadron in New York harbor, would have 
driven the French Admiral off the coast, and disconcerted the entire 
movement. But instead of adopting this obvious policy, the Brit- 
ish Admiral in the West Indies contented himself with detaching a 
sufficient number of vessels to overmatch De Grasse when joined 
by the fleet stationed at New York, and sailed with the rest of his 
fleet to England. Fortunately, Admiral Graves, who commanded 
the New York fleet had met with a storm, in a recent cruise off the 
New England coast, which disabled several of his ships. Rein- 
forced by the West India ships, he left these at New York to refit, 
and sailed for the Chesapeake ; but his inferiority of force pre- 
vented any interference with the preparations for the siege of 
Yorktown. 

Still, Cornwallis might have held out until, the fleet being repaired, 
sufficient reinforcements might arrive to raise the siege. But hav- 
ing received the promise of relief at an early day, he was only 
anxious to maintain his position with the least possible loss, and 
withdrew from his outworks, which he had ample force to hold effi- 
ciently. But the siege was pressed with unexampled vigor by the 
allies, who knew the importance of time ; and, before the reinforce- 
ments arrived, Cornwallis found his position untenable. With 
characteristic vigor, he resolved to cross York river to Gloucester 
Point, and cutting his way through the weak lines on that side, 
make his escape to New York. His first division of troops had 
crossed the river, when a storm arose and prevented the passage of 
the rest of his army. No alternative was left but surrender. 

Five days after the British laid down their arms, the English fleet 
arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake, from New York, with large 
reinforcements, for the purpose of raising the siege. 

The British were, providentially, always too late during the en- 
tire war. In 1776, a storm prevented the British troops, in Boston, 



THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 45 

from crossing Boston Harbor, until it was too late to attack the 
American works on Dorchester Heights. A contrary wind pre- 
vented the British expedition against the Southern states from 
arriving, until it was too late to second the rising of the Carolina 
loyalists. The same contrary winds delayed the arrival of British 
reinforcements and compelled the British commander-in-chief to 
delay the commencement of his attack upon New York, until it was 
too late in the season to reap the full fruits of his victories. When 
the Americans were routed on Long Island, a contrary wind de- 
tained the British fleet, until it was too late to intercept their retreat. 
On the same occasion, the detention of a Tory by a Hessian guard, 
prevented the British commander from obtaining intelligence of the 
movement, until it was too late to attack them in the confusion of 
embarkation. A short time after, when the British army had 
already felt the position of the Americans and obtained decisive 
advantage, a storm arose which induced Howe to defer his assault 
until it was too late — Washington having availed himself of the re- 
spite to retire to a stronger position. Burgoyne was influenced by 
the defeat of his detachment at Bennington to stop a whole month 
at Fort Edward, until the country had time to rally; then, appre- 
hensive that it was too late to reach New York by the left bank of 
the Hudson, he crossed the stream, and met with impassable obsta- 
cles at Saratoga. The delay of the expected reinforcements from 
England, prevented Clinton from moving from New York to the 
relief of Burgoyne until too late, and his army had surrendered. 
The opposition of the elements prevented the arrival of the British 
fleet and army at Newport, until it was too late to intercept the 
retreat of the American army from the island. Andre inadvert- 
ently prolonged his midnight interview with Arnold, until it was too 
late to return to his vessel, which led to the detection of the trea- 
son, and saved the American cause. Opportune rains delayed the 
headlong chase of Cornwallis after Greene, until he was twice only 
a little too late to crush the flying army of his adversary. A storm 
shattered the ships of Admiral Graves, and delayed them so long in 
repairing, that the expedition arrived off the Chesapeake only a little 
too late to raise the siege of Yorktown and save the army of Corn- 
wallis. 



46 the world's crisis. 

And then the many instances where, in critical periods, the action 
of the elements favored the American arms : the unusual fog, and 
the sudden shift of wind which favored the escape of the Americans 
from Long Island — the sudden freeze which enabled Washington to 
execute his movement around the British army at Trenton — the 
storm which, after the battle of Brandywine, separated the opposing 
forces, when, with his habitual daring, Washington was about to risk 
a decisive battle in defense of Philadelphia — the storm which pre- 
vented the escape of Cornwallis — the repeated tempests which, 
during several years, separated the French and English fleets when- 
ever they were about to engage in decisive action. And then the 
fatuity of the British commanders : the error which caused them to 
attack New York, when Boston, evacuated by the Americans, was 
open to occupation — the strange delay in hemming Washington in 
New York island — the failure to seize the line of the Hudson, when 
the defeat of the Americans left it open to occupation — the strange 
want of enterprise which suffered the American army to remain in 
a defenseless condition for months without an attempt to assail it — 
the fatuity of Howe, in striking at Philadelphia, instead of co-ope- 
rating with Burgoyne — the strange delay of Burgoyne's march, and 
his fatal blunder in crossing to the right bank of the Hudson — the 
fatal error of Cornwallis (his first blunder during the war), in leaving 
the Carolinas and marching into Virginia — the blunder of the admi- 
ral of the British West India squadron, in not following De Grasse 
to the American coast — the error of Cornwallis in abandoning his 
outer works. Surely, all these display the intervention of that 
Being who swayeth the councils of man, no less than the elements, 
at his will. 

In reviewing the events of the War of Independence, we may use 
the language of Washington: "The hand of Providence has been 
so conspicuous in all this, that he who lacked faith must have been 
worse than an infidel ; and he more than wicked, who had not grati- 
tude to acknowledge his obligations." 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 

CHAPTER II. 

THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

At the close of the Revolution, a philosophic and devout mind, in 
tracing the past history of the Colonies, must have been impressed 
with the belief, that a people so favored were destined for some 
great career. But events had not yet developed the mission, to 
which destiny pointed the country. Subsequent events have de- 
veloped the fact, that the Providential mission of our country is 

The Establishment and Diffusion of Republican Liberty. 
Various converging lines of cumulative inference force this con- 
clusion on the mind. 

Sect. I. — The Unexampled Excellence of our System of 

Government. 

The mission of the United States, as the destined promoter of 
Republican Liberty, may be inferred from the excellence of our 
matchless Constitution. The excellence of this instrument appears 
in a striking light, in contrast with the faulty constitutions of all 
former republics. 

Many persons, judging from past experience, have reached the 
conclusion that Republicanism is a radically defective system of 
government. They regard it as an impracticability, beautiful in 
theory, but impossible of successful execution. These views are 
derived from the history of republics whose constitutions were radi- 
cally defective. A brief examination of their organic defects will 
show that their failure must be attributed to other causes than any 
radical inefficiency of Republicanism as a system of government. 
Let us briefly glance at some of these. 

I. Organic Defects of Former Republics. 

1st. Former Republics had no proper Republican Organization. 

In this age, certain principles of government are regarded as fun- 
damental, without which popular government can not exist. Among 
these are : — 



48 the world's crisis. 

1. The powers of government must be exercised by the people 
through representatives, not by democratic assemblies of citizens. 

2. The legislative, executive, and judicial functions of government, 
should never be vested in the same body, but must be kept wholly 
distinct from each other, as separate branches of administration. 

These two principles, which to us seem so simple, and so essential 
to the success of government, are discoveries of modern times. The 
simple republics of antiquity embodied no such subtleties. In the 
earliest form of government — the Patriarchal — the Chief was the 
leader of his tribe, its lawgiver, and its judge. When the patriarch 
became merged in the sovereign, the monarch continued to exercise 
all these powers, and thus centered in his own person, legislative, 
executive and judicial functions. In states which dethroned their 
kings, the people seized upon the functions of sovereignty, and ex- 
ercised them as a matter of course. The entire powers of govern- 
ment were lodged in Assemblies of the people, and were exercised 
with that rash and ill-advised precipitancy, always characteristic of 
democratic assemblies. The populace, under the influence of turbu- 
lent demagogues, passed hasty and injudicious laws ; and, as the su- 
preme executive authority, appointed executive agents ; and in angry 
mobs passed unjust sentences upon the best citizens. 

This want of the Representative system, and of a proper distri- 
bution of the governmental power, caused the downfall of the 
Athenian republic, where the form of government was an unmixed 
democracy. While such statesmen as Themistocles and Pericles 
swayed the national councils, bringing forward wise and salutary 
measures, and obtaining the appointment of judicious executive 
officials to carry out their policy, the evil tendencies of these dem- 
ocratic assemblies were held in abeyance. But when the Athenian 
people yielded themselves to the control of weak and turbulent 
orators, the republic rushed headlong to ruin. 

2nd. Former Republics were convulsed by the clashing of Rival 
Classes. 

In many republics another fact combined with the organic de- 
fects of the government to work their downfall. They were all 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 

originally monarchies, with the aristocratic element which is always 
gathered about the throne. The dethronement of the king left the 
aristocracy and the people to struggle for supremacy. In the 
absence of any constitutional balance of powers between these rival 
orders in the state, their jealousies led to civil broils, which con- 
tinually agitated the unskillfully organized republics. 

The contests between the aristocratic element and the democracy, 
more than once involved all Greece in civil war. Athens and Sparta 
were respectively the champions of the opposing factions, and their 
conflicts divided Greece into hostile camps, and set in operation the 
train of causes which led to the overthrow of Grecian liberty. 

Rome presents a still more memorable example of the ruin con- 
sequent upon the collisions of rival orders in the state, and the 
abuses of democracy arising from the want of the representative 
principle. When monarchy was abolished at Rome, a Senate was 
already in existence, and at once assumed control of the state. It 
enacted all laws. Members of the patrician order were alone elig- 
ible to the public offices, especially to the consulate, the executive 
office of the republic. The only political right originally vested in 
the people consisted in their privilege of choosing the consuls from 
among the patricians. 

The uncontrolled domination of the patricians became at length so 
intolerable as to lead to a revolt of the people, who extorted from 
the nobility the institution of the tribunate. The tribunes were 
chosen by the people from the plebeian ranks. Their persons were 
sacred from violence, and the vote of a single tribune imposed an 
authoritative veto upon the legislative proceedings of the Senate. 
Step by step the people gained accessions of political power, until 
their Assemblies acquired the right to make laws for the Common- 
wealth. 

Rome now presented the singular spectacle of a republic with two 
rival classes, both possessed of independent legislative authority. 
A tribune of the people, unless bribed or intimidated, might arrest 
the passage of an unpopular law of the Senate. Against the 
adoption of factious laws by the Assemblies of the people, the pat- 
ricians were under the necessity of securing the veto of a bribed or 
subservient tribune; or of calling in the aid of superstition to delay 
4 



50 

its passage ; or, failing in this, of rushing into the Comitium where 
the Assemblies were held, and dispersing the people by force of 
arms. This anomalous political condition gave rise to a factious 
and anarchial administration, which, in the absence of constitutional 
remedy, could only result in violence and bloodshed whenever the 
matter in dispute was sufficiently irritating to stimulate mutual pas- 
sions into activity. 

The decline of the republic, caused by the want of balance in the 
constitution between rival classes, was hastened by the manner in 
which the legislative power of the people was exercised. Like 
Athens, Rome had no representative assembly. While the republic 
was limited to the environs of a small town, the people met in 
popular assembly to deliberate and act upon public affairs; the prac- 
tice was continued when the population of Rome numbered millions, 
and the political franchise had been extended to all the inhabitants 
of Italy. The millions of citizens could have no voice in the di- 
rection of affairs. A few thousand persons, generally the dregs of 
the populace, and followers of some popular and ambitious leader, 
controlled the republic. The natural result soon followed: all 
measures were carried by violence. Armed factions fought in the 
Comitium, and political power inured to the fiercest. The respectable 
class of citizens could not attend such assemblies. Public affairs 
were left at the disposal of any faction bold enough to assume the 
reins of government, or rather to keep possession of the Comitium; 
and Rome was governed by factious leaders, parading the streets with 
armed bands of gladiators, and filling the Comitium with legislators 
whose hands were red with fratricidal slaughter. 

The Assemblies of the people at length interfered with the execu- 
tive department of government, and, in violation of the constitutional 
functions of the consuls, bestowed extraordinary commands upon 
favorite leaders, thus arming them against the liberties of the com- 
monwealth. The republic could no longer exist; and Caesar, the 
foe of the Senate, the idol of the people, defeated Pompey, the 
champion of the aristocracy, upon the battlefield, and became the 
sovereign of Rome. 

That such riotous democracies, engrossing all the functions of 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 

government, should have fallen, is not surprising : especially when 
the populace was opposed to a rival order in the Commonwealth, 
whose policy kept the people in a continual ferment of inflamed 
passions. The failure of such governments militates nothing against 
Republicanism as a system. The statesman, perceiving their defect- 
ive organization, is not surprised at their fall, but rather wonders 
how governments so constituted should have been able to work at 
all. 

3d. Former Republics lacked the Federal Principle. 

Yet another fault of constitution conduced to the instability of 
all Republics of ancient or .modern times : Confederation of states 
were established upon improper principles. All former Confedera- 
cies belonged to one of two classes : they were either Leagues of 
Independent States, or Centralized Governments, in which the 
general Congress was endowed with supreme power over states re- 
duced to the exercise of merely municipal rights. 

1. The evil of Leagues. 

In Leagues, where each of the confederated states retained all 
the rights of sovereignty — raised armies, built navies, and exercised 
the power of peace and war — the loose confederation was only a 
league of allies, and served only to foster jealousies, and excite com- 
motions. 

We find in the Amphictyonic Council of Greece, the first example 
of a league of independent states. In this league the several 
states preserved their absolute independence. They waged war 
against foreign powers, or the members of the league; made peace; 
attended to all their political relations, domestic and foreign ; and 
exercised all the functions of nations, independent, though in alli- 
ance with others. Each state was entitled to an equal number of 
votes in the Amphictyonic Council. This general Council, or Con- 
gress, was vested with legislative and judicial powers. It had the 
right to decide all controversies between the members of the league ; 
to fine the aggressor, and to call out the entire force of the Confed- 
eration against a contumacious state. It was vested with unlimited 
power to take any legislative action judged necessary for the public 
welfare ; it was the guardian of the national religion ; and was em- 
powered to declare, and carry on war. 



52 

With powers so extensive, had the Confederation possessed an 
organized Executive, with a national army and navy to execute its 
decrees, it would have constituted an efficient government, and 
might, perhaps, have eventually made Greece a consolidated Re- 
public, depriving the allied states of their independent governmental 
powers, and restricting their authority to municipal regulations. 
The crowning defect of the league was its want of executive power. 
This prevented it from assuming the functions of a government, and 
restricted it to the office of an advisory Council of the Grecian 
states. It served to establish a public law for Greece, and for a 
great while, preserved the states in tolerable concord. But during 
the Persian war, having no national army and navy, the Council 
subsidized the Athenian state, which had a powerful navy, to prose- 
cute the war. Athens thus became the executive of Greece, and 
built up an empire at the expense of the allies, attaining a danger- 
ous ascendancy. A combination was formed, under the lead of 
Sparta, to break down her overgrown power, and succeeded, after 
years of desolating war, in accomplishing its aim. Sparta, in turn, 
was humbled by an alliance headed by Thebes ; and Greece was 
rent by civil convulsion, until a fatal interference of the Amphic- 
tyonic Council, with one of the states of the league, precipitated a 
civil war, which gave Macedon a footing in Greece, and caused the 
downfall of liberty. 

The Amphictyonic Council was the prime element of discord in 
the Grecian republics. Its decisions, enforced by a majority of the 
states, continually embroiled Greece in civil wars. The history of 
the period proves that its existence was a calamity. The states 
had far better maintained their isolated independence, than become 
involved in an alliance of jarring elements, whose electrical activity 
desolated the country with continual tempests. 

The League of the Swiss cantons is an example of similar con- 
stitutional defects. It is inadequate to preserve harmony among 
the cantons, or to secure efficiency in the government; but the 
isolation of the country, and the simple habits of the mountaineers, 
have usually counterbalanced the evils of the constitution, and 
prevented them from inducing the perpetual intestine discords, gen- 
erally attendant upon leagues of confederated states. 



THE MISSION OF TIIE UNITED STATES. 53 

2. The evils of Centralization. 

The opposite fault — Centralization — has proved equally ruinous 
to confederated republics. An imperial centralization, like Rome 
or Athens, whose power is derived from conquest, is a mere des- 
potism over the provinces. It matters not that the imperial state 
is a republic ; its rule over its dependents is as absolute as that of 
Austria, and more oppressive, inasmuch as a democracy is the most 
heartless of all tyrannies. 

A different form of centralization, where the deputies of all the 
states assembled in general congress, have unlimited power over 
all the interests of the republic, though apparently more just in the 
exercise of its authority, has always resulted in abuses which issued 
in the overthrow of liberty. This abuse of power is sure to occur 
where a diversity of interests exists. Under such circumstances, a 
majority of states combine to control the republic, and use the 
government for the advancement of their own interests. The 
aggrieved minority seize an opportunity to revolt against the 
oppressive rule ; civil war ensues ; foreign alliances are formed ; 
and either the republic falls, or, resting its power on the sword, de- 
generates into a despotism beneath the control of some military 
leader. 

Of such a centralization the Achaean League is the most memo- 
rable example of ancient times. Though occupying a district so 
small and secluded as to preclude the rise of antagonistic interests, 
yet the domination of the majority, uncontrolled by constitutional 
limitations, proved so intolerable, that the Republic was the prey of 
ceaseless strife. Its history is the narrative of continual discords, 
ending only with the existence of the Republic. 

It is remarkable that leagues and centralizations, though repre- 
senting, in respect of their organization, opposite principles of 
confederation, have run the same career. Both were vested with 
jurisdiction over the internal interests of the republic ; both, by the 
injudicious exercise of their authority, came in collision with some 
of the allied states : the Centralization, employing the national forces 
to maintain its authority; the League summoning to its aid the armies 
of the several states. Their policy equally resulted in civil con- 
vulsion ; leading either to the disruption of the republic, or to the 



54 

establishment of imperialism. The downfall of every confederated 
republic that has ever existed — whether league or centralization — 
may be traced to the unwise interference of the general Congress 
with the domestic interests of the Commonwealth. 

These faults in the constitution of former republics — the want of 
a proper republican organization — the clashing of class interests — 
or the lack of the Federal principle — caused the downfall of them all. 
Their ruin may invariably be traced directly to the lack of a system 
of representation ; to the want of a proper distribution of the func- 
tions of government ; to the clashing of rival orders ; or to the abuses 
arising from an improper system of confederation. They fell 
before the abuses of riotous assemblies of the populace, assuming 
all the functions of administration ; or from the civil discord of 
clashing orders ; or from the Congress of the confederation abusing 
its vested power over the individual states. 

II. Our System of Government avoids all these Errors. 
In tracing the means by which the framers of the American 
Constitution were enabled to avoid the organic defects which 
wrecked former republics, and to establish a Constitution perfect in 
its outline, and almost faultless in respect of details, the mind is im- 
pressed with the conviction that our system of government owes its. 
origin to the care of a benign Providence. 

1st. The overruling care of Providence discerned in the manner 
in which 'principles of government, essential to Republicanism, were 
slowly evolved during the lapse of centuries previous to the Coloniza- 
tion of America. 

1. The Evolution of the principle of Popular Representation. 

No ancient republic ever conceived the idea of a representative 
government. In some of the confederated republics, States were 
represented by their delegates ; but the idea of the People delegating 
to representatives their governmental powers, instead of exercising 
it in person, never occurred to the citizens of ancient republics. 
Indeed, had some sage statesman conceived the idea, and suggested 
it to the people, the proposition to yield to an elective body the 
powers of government, belonging to the citizens, would have been 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 55 

rejected with disdain. It involved an abdication of power to which 
its possessors would by no means consent. The Representative 
system could not have arisen in the state of society existing in 
ancient times. 

We find its germ in the social state of the free barbarians who 
overran the Roman empire. Patriarchism was the mould which gave 
form to all the ancient governments. The Patriarch, ruling his tribe 
with mild but absolute sway, bequeathed his prerogatives to the 
monarch. The sovereign was absolute. His prerogative extended 
to the power of taxation. And, in some states, the governments 
which displaced monarchy, succeeded to these prerogatives. But in 
the barbarism of the north of Europe this power of the national 
leader was lost. The chief might demand the military service of 
his tribe ; but he had no power over the property of his followers. 
"When they overran the Roman empire, these free barbarians 
retained their original privileges, especially that of exemption from 
taxation at the will of the sovereign. When his military service 
was paid, the vassal was free from the requisitions of his king. 
The royal revenues were at first chiefly derived from lands belong- 
ing to the crown. At length, however, the monarch began to 
obtain revenue from his feudal dependents by accepting money in 
lieu of personal service, which the feudal chief obtained from his 
vassals upon the same conditions. Thus the custom gradually 
arose, of the nobles granting to the sovereign certain sums levied 
upon their vassals, to defray the expense of his wars. But the 
principle obtained that these pecuniary grants were not taxes levied 
at the will of the sovereign, but free gifts of his loyal nobles. 

In the progress of industry, however, burghs or towns arose, whose 
citizens were, by charter, free from the levies of the nobles. Reve- 
nues could only be derived from them by their own free consent. In 
the Saxon Witenagemote, or Parliament, beside the nobility and clergy, 
the magistrates of the burghs attended, as representatives of the 
burghs. It would appear from a stipulation of Magna Charta, that 
no taxes could be imposed by the monarch, except by the consent 
of the Great Council; that in the Saxon times, this was the custom 
of the realm, violated by the tyrranical rulers of the Norman line, 
and sought to be revived. The Witenagemote lapsed into disuse 



56 the world's crisis. 

under the early Norman sovereigns. It was not until Magna Charta 
prohibited the monarch from levying taxes at his arbitrary will, that 
the burghs were again represented in parliament. But the prin- 
ciple once established, that taxation could only be levied by the 
consent of the people, the increasing wealth of the middle class, 
and the constant necessities of the English monarchs prevented the 
representation of the Commons from falling into desuetude. The 
Scottish wars of Edward I, and the French wars of Edward III, 
compelled the monarchs to apply regularly to the commons for sub- 
sidies, and they could not always deny the petitions with which the 
grants were accompanied. The representatives of the Commons 
thus gradually attained greater political consequence, and, after 
many contests with the crown, obtained the recognition of their 
claim that no law should be passed without their consent. Still the 
Parliament passed no enactments. It petitioned the king, who, if 
he chose acceeded to its request; but, in issuing the statute, he 
modified the petition of Parliament as he saw fit. But the usurpa- 
tion of Henry IV, and the French wars of his successor, enabled the 
Parliament to strengthen its position, and under the weak reign of 
the Sixth Henry, it changed the form of its proceedings, and, instead 
of presenting petitions to the monarch, it framed measures in the 
form of bills subject to his approval. The fierce Wars of the Hoses, 
in breaking the power of the nobles, greatly increased the relative 
importance of the Commons. They soon after became a ruling 
power in the Commonwealth, and the British constitution approxi- 
mated its present form. 

It may seem strange that the Representative principle never occur- 
red to any philosophic statesman, as a remedy for the evils of unbri- 
dled democracy. That it did not, evinces the want of originality in 
the human mind. No advance in government has ever been elabor- 
ated by human reason. Man only elaborates systems which the 
course of events has germinated. The manner in which the Represen- 
tative system took its rise, exemplifies the fact that divine Providence 
prepares the gradations of human progress, by so directing events 
as to evolve systems essential to the political advancement of the 
race. Adopted first for the sake of convenience, without any eye 
to consequences, the representation of the boroughs gradually ex- 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 

panded into the English House of Commons. It is interesting to 
observe the manner in which it was fostered. Originating in the 
free barbarism of the German nations, it was germinated by Magna 
Charta, and fostered into vigor by the profusion, the usurpations, 
the weakness of monarchs, by ambitious foreign wars, and deso- 
lating civil strife, until, from the most feeble beginning, it developed 
into the most important branch of the English government. Every 
event favored its development. It is the great principle of advance- 
ment which has been evolving during a thousand years. This is 
the single great gift of the Middle Ages to modern times. The sea- 
girt shores of insular Britain were severed from the Continent of 
Europe by some geological convulsion, long ages ago, that the prin- 
ciple might have a home where its infancy might be cradled, and 
where, free from external violence, it might, during the course of 
centuries, be fostered into maturity. Its development affords the 
key to the tangled skein of English history ; the wars, the tyran- 
nies, the usurpations — every event of a dark and turbulent career, 
while crushing industry and bringing wretchedness to millions, all 
afforded aliment to this heaven- cherished principle. 

2. Distribution of the Powers of Government. 

Originally, the monarch was the possessor of all the powers of 
government. Legislative, and judicial, as well as executive author- 
ity, vested in him. This was very nearly the condition of the 
English government during the century after the Norman Conquest. 
The powers of Parliament were restricted to the granting of sup- 
plies ; the royal judges who administered justice were merely 
the delegates of the sovereign, in whom he vested his judicial 
authority, to be exercised according to his will, and resumable at his 
pleasure. The sovereign engrossed all the functions of govern- 
ment. 

But as the Parliament gradually wrested from the king, and con- 
centered in itself, the legislative functions, it became necessary to 
wrest from his hands judicial power also. When finally, after many 
struggles, the Parliament as a legislative body became free from 
royal control, the next step was to secure the independence of the 
Judiciary. Unless this were accomplished, the legislative power of 



58 the world's crisis. 

Parliament was a nullity ; for while the sovereign might impose his 
own construction upon its enactments, he remained the virtual 
legislator for the realm. After another contest, the Judiciary was 
rendered independent of the crown. The sovereign remained pos- 
sessed of executive authority only, with the power to protect him- 
self against parliamentary encroachment by imposing a veto upon 
its enactments. 

It became a recognized principle among all Englishmen, that the 
powers of government should be distributed among three depart- 
ments, mutually independent — the legislative, judicial, and execu- 
tive. 

During the Colonial period, the Colonies had been ruled by gov- 
ernments framed in accordance with these principles. The Repre- 
sentative system, to which they were accustomed in the mother 
country, was generally adopted : the legislature of each colony was 
composed of delegates elected by the people. This feature, so 
essential to republicanism, was the groundwork of the Colonial 
governments. The English principle of the distribution of the 
powers of government between three co-ordinate departments, was 
also generally adopted. 

The adoption of these principles — the Representative system, and 
the distribution of the powers of government — gave to the Colo- 
nial governments a stability and dignity, for which we may look in 
vain among former republics. The government of a single state 
was established upon proper principles, and may be said to have 
approached perfection. 

2nd. The care of a benign Providence evident in the Evolution of 
the Federal principle. 

1. Providential direction of preliminary events. 

Though the colonies were able, from the example of England, to 
educe the plan of government necessary for a single state, the his- 
tory of the past presented no model, on which might be formed a 
system of confederation. The records of the past might be 
searched in vain, for an example of a confederacy of states, united 
under a government at once efficient and harmonious. All past 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 

confederacies were either leagues or centralizations, and their his- 
tory only served to "warn the framers of the constitution against 
adopting the organic faults which wrecked them. 

Yet even here, though history presented no example of a confed- 
eration to be copied, the position the Colonies had occupied toward 
each other, and toward the mother country, suggested to the minds 
of reflective statesmen the system of government adapted to their 
wants. 

The Colonies had been always mutually independent of each other, 
.and united only by their common connection with the mother coun- 
try. This independency of the several colonies the people were 
attached to by centuries of use, and were resolute in maintaining. 
But their common connection with the mother country suggested 
the possibility of a plan w T hich might unite them in a general con- 
federation, while the independency of the several Colonies should 
be still maintained. 

The struggle against the pretensions of England had even sug- 
gested the principles on which the confederation might be based. 
The pretensions of England, arrogating an absolute supremacy over 
the Colonies, placed the common government in the attitude of a 
Centralization, having supreme control over all the affairs of the 
Colonies, foreign and domestic. It claimed the right not only to 
control their foreign relations, through trade regulations and by 
assuming the power to involve them in war at will; but also to con- 
trol their internal affairs, regulating their industry, and modifying 
their governmental action at will. The English government claimed 
the right to interfere with the industry of the Colonies by an abso- 
lute prohibition of traffic with other nations, and by imposing 
restrictions on all branches of manufacturing industry. It claimed 
the right to annul the acts of their legislative assemblies by the 
vetoes of governors of royal appointment, or by refusal of the royal 
sanction. It claimed the right to change their chartered forms of 
government, and impose upon them such governments as England 
deemed most fitting ; in fine, to subject them in every respect to the 
legislation of the British government. 

The Colonies were so much disgusted with the arrogant claim of 
centralization, set up by the British government, that, when it be- 



60 THE world's crisis. 

came necessary to combine their strength during the Revolutionary 
war, they erred in the opposite extreme, and refused to constitute a 
general government, but, under the "Articles of Confederation," 
formed themselves into a league of sovereign, and mutually inde- 
pendent states. They carefully restricted the Congress of the Con- 
federation from the exercise of the powers which had seemed so 
odious in England. The right to levy taxes, and to regulate com- 
merce were absolutely withheld from Congress. It was not suffered 
to declare war, enter into treaties, regulate the currency, nor incur 
expenditure, without the concurrence of nine, out of the thirteen 
states. Indeed, the jealousy of centralization prevented the states 
from vesting in the Congress of the Confederation any of the im- 
portant functions of government. The Confederation was de- 
signed to be a "League," in which " each state retains its sover- 
eignty, freedom, and independence." It had neither an Executive 
nor a Judiciary ; and, indeed, in the narrow sphere allotted to its 
action, neither was necessary. The bitter experience of the evils 
attendant upon centralization drove the colonies to the opposite 
extreme, and induced them to form a League, instead of a Govern- 
ment, and to debar the Congress from the exercise of powers es- 
sential to the common welfare. 

Providentially, the condition of the country was such as to expose 
the evils of this system in a glaring light. England, France, and 
Spain, the three great Colonial powers of Europe, from a desire to 
engross the traffic of their colonies, had each framed a system of 
restrictive trade regulations, known as " the colonial system." 
Under this system, each country prohibited its colonies from all 
traffic with any foreign country, or colonies. During the colonial 
era, the American colonies of England enjoyed a traffic with the 
British West India possessions; but, now, the colonial system of 
England, and the other European powers, shut them out altogether 
from the tropical trade. This was felt the more severely, since, from 
their locality in the temperate zone, their products generally were 
unsuited to the European market, and marketable only in those 
tropical dependencies of the European powers. A stagnation of 
trade, affecting both the agriculture, and the commerce of the states, 
was the necessary consequence, reducing them to a condition of 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 

industrial depression greater than had been known during the Colo- 
nial era. 

These evils were attributed to the want of an efficient govern- 
ment. It was believed that, if Congress had the power to adopt 
retaliatory trade regulations, the European powers might be induced 
to relax their prohibitory regulations. The public welfare impera- 
tively demanded that Congress should have the power to regulate 
trade with foreign countries. 

It was peculiarly fortunate that this stagnation of industry urged 
the states to modify the system of confederation at the juncture 
when it was accomplished. Had not the Constitution been framed 
when it was, the probability is, that it never would have been. The 
French revolution soon opened first the French, and afterwards the 
Spanish and Dutch colonies to American trade. Had the Constitu- 
tion not been framed when this occurred, the states, relieved from 
the stagnation which induced the change of government, would have 
continued under the old Articles of Confederation, until diversity of 
character and interests would have impelled them to separate and 
follow out their destiny on different paths. At this juncture, how- 
ever, the evils of stagnation had reached an unbearable height, and 
seemed to call imperatively for a change of the Articles of Confed- 
eration, and an increase of the power of the general Congress. 

Another fact also created general dissatisfaction with the narrow 
limitation of the powers of the confederation. The public creditors 
were clamoring for payment of the debts incurred during the War 
of Independence. Congress had no power to raise a national revenue, 
and the states, suffering from a general stagnation of industry, 
failed to raise the sums assessed upon them. Even the obligations 
of the country to the veterans of the War of Independence remained 
unliquidated. Unable to pay its debts, or to protect its foreign 
interests, the League failed to command the respect of foreign 
nations, or the confidence and attachment of the American people. 
It was falling into contempt at home and abroad, and indications 
were not wanting, to show that, unless the defects were promptly 
remedied, the Confederation would soon fall to pieces. 

This state of things induced the several states, in 1787, to send 



62 

delegates to a convention, with authority to amend the Articles of 
Confederation. 

2. The labors of the Constitutional Convention. 

The states had now experienced the opposite evils of a Central- 
ization, and a League with inadequate governmental powers. The 
Convention was authorized to amend the Articles of Confederation, 
so as to give efficiency to the confederation while avoiding the evils 
of centralization. In appointing delegates to the Convention, the 
states did not contemplate the surrender of their sovereignty and 
independence. Hence, they were only authorized to amend the 
Articles of Confederation, retaining the distinctive features of a 
league. But the powers especially needed, — the power to raise a 
national revenue, and to regulate the foreign commerce of the 
country, were most important functions, which could be properly ex- 
ercised only by a Government. And if a Government were to be 
formed, instead of a League, it was necessary to establish it upon a 
proper basis, having three departments — the legislative, executive, 
and judicial. It should also be vested with all other powers neces- 
sary to give it stability and efficiency; while it should be hedged 
round with such limitations as to prevent it from trenching upon the 
cherished sovereignty and independence of the states. The op- 
pressiveness of English Centralization, and the inefficiency of the 
Confederation, were the Scylla and Charybdis providentially placed 
as landmarks, between which the Convention must .steer. The cen- 
tralization of England was its Scylla, skirting which, it avoided 
widely the dangers of an inefficient league. 

Guided by this landmark, the Convention readily traced the pow- 
ers, proper to be vested in the new government. It must have the 
powers experience had proved to be essential to the public welfare, 
as the right to raise revenues, and to regulate foreign commerce ; 
and such further powers as the colonies had conceded to England ; 
but none of the oppressive claims which they had contested. 

This train of reasoning would lead the Convention to trace some 
such outline as the following, to guide their labors : — 

(1.) The powers essential to be exercised, render it necessary to 
organize a government. 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 

("2.) Every government should have three departments — the legis- 
lative, executive, and judicial. 

(3.) The government must have the power to raise revenue. 

(4.) It must have the power to regulate the commerce of the 
country with foreign countries. 

(5.) It must have the power of peace and war, and, consequently, 
to maintain an army and navy. 

(G.) It must have the power to coin money. 

(7.) It must have the power to regulate the intercourse and comity 
of the several states. 

These powers are inherent in every government, from the exigency 
of foreign relations and internal comity, and the resolution to es- 
tablish a government necessarily involved their bestowal. 

But the functions of the government were to be carefully re- 
stricted within these limits. The rights claimed by Great Britain 
over the colonies, involving the principle of centralization, were to 
to be withheld. England had claimed the right to impose laws upon 
the colonies; to control and restrict their industry; to annul their 
legislation; to modify their governments; and in all respects to 
regulate both their foreign relations, and their internal affairs. All 
control over the internal affairs of the states was carefully with- 
held from the new government. It was proposed to bestow upon 
it the power to annul state laws in contravention of its enact- 
ments, and to coerce a factious state by force of arms ; but these 
features were rejected, and the Constitution presents no suggestion 
of the possibility of a state and federal collision. Indeed, the con- 
vention, in framing the Constitution, exercised the most watchful 
care to guard against the possibility of such a collision. No powers 
were granted to the general government whose exercise would bring 
it into antagonism with the states. It was designed to exercise 
functions which could not be efficiently exercised by the several states; 
leaving altogether to them the administration of their domestic con- 
cerns. Hence, in the Constitution, the powers conferred were most 
jealously guarded. Every safeguard was thrown round the reserved 
rights of the states ; every precaution was taken to debar the gen- 
eral government from trending upon their reserved province. 

This object was sought to be accomplished in two ways: .first, by 



64 the world's crisis. 

specific limitations of the power of the federal government; second, 
by the balances of the Constitution, and the federal features of the 
government. 

The Limitations of Federal Power. 

Two instances will illustrate the careful limitation of the powers 
of the general government. In time of peace, the general gov- 
ernment could only trend upon the reserved province of state ad- 
ministration, in the exercise of two of its vested powers, — and both 
these were most jealously guarded. 

(1.) The right to raise revenues by import duties, when viewed 
in connection with the power to regulate commerce, might have 
been supposed to confer the right to impose duties for the purpose 
of affording protection to the domestic industry of the country. 
This construction would allow the government to interfere with the 
internal development of industry, fostering the interests of one 
section of the country at the expense of other interests. The 
convention guarded against this construction by providing that 
duties should be imposed for revenue only, — " to pay the debts, etc., 
of the United States." So far from granting Congress the power 
to levy duties for the purpose of giving it power over the internal 
interests of the country, the power was granted for the purpose of 
preventing Congress, as far as possible, from coming in contact 
with the province of the states. Raising revenues by direct taxa- 
ation does unavoidably bring the Federal government into contact 
with the reserved province of state legislation, — the internal in- 
terests of the country. To prevent this, as far as practicable, it 
was deemed expedient to permit the government to raise its reve- 
nues by duties, which, being levied at the ports, avoided the unde- 
sirable contact with the province of state administration incident to 
direct taxation. It is true that the imposition of duties does 
regulate commerce, and is a legitimate means for that end. But 
when the regulation of commerce is the aim of the government, 
the power must be exercised for the objects contemplated by the 
framers of the constitution. And they certainly never contem- 
plated the establishment of a monopoly, by the imposition of duties 
upon the goods of all foreign countries. 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 

The power to regulate commerce is essentially a retaliatory 
power. It was bestowed in order to vest in the government the 
power to employ retaliatory legislation against nations which 
excluded our products from their home, or colonial ports. If any 
country would not permit us to traffic with its dependencies, Con- 
gress might so " regulate our commerce " with it as to exclude its 
products wholly, or in part, from our ports. If any nation adopted 
a policy adverse to our interests, Congress might retaliate by the 
imposition of discriminating duties upon its commodities. Congress 
might also regulate our commerce with any country which seeks to 
use its preponderance of capital for the purpose of crushing our 
industry, in such a manner as to thwart its injurious policy, and to 
maintain an advantageous system of commercial exchange. But 
this retaliatory legislation is very different from general duties laid 
upon the imported products of all foreign countries for the purpose 
of securing a monopoly to some favored interest. The intention in 
conferring this power on the Federal government, was not to give it 
power to foster any particular branch of domestic industry by hos- 
tile legislation against the industry of all foreign countries, but to 
retaliate upon any foreign country that wished to foster their in- 
dustry by a policy hostile to us. The policy of the Constitution 
was to secure to our industry an equal competition in the ports of 
the world, untrammeled by adverse legislation. In a word, the 
regulation of commerce was designed to promote intercourse, on 
equal terms, with foreign countries, not to impose barriers to it ; to 
free the entire industry of the country from foreign oppression, not 
to oppress almost all its branches for the benefit of a few favored in- 
terests ; to secure our industry free course, not to trammel it ; to 
obtain for it the privilege of flowing in its natural channels, not to 
warp it into abnormal development. 

While the government restricted its action within the limits fixed 
by the Constitution, while it imposed duties only for revenue, and 
regulated commerce only to retaliate hostile foreign policy, it could 
not interfere with the internal interests of the country, nor come in 
contact with the reserved province of state jurisdiction. 

(2.) The power over the currency, might have been made to vest 
in the government the power to establish banking corporations in 
5 



66 the world's crisis. 

the several states. This power was exercised by all the European 
governments. But it would have brought the government at once 
within the province of the states, — the internal interests of the 
country. It was withheld, and the power of the government over 
the currency was restricted to coining money and regulating its 
value. 

The framers of the Constitution went even further than this. The 
evils of an inflated paper currency had been severely felt. The 
paper currency of the colonies during the colonial era had depreci- 
ated into absolute worthlessness. The currency issues of the Rev- 
olution were of no greater value. The people were disgusted with 
the entire system which substituted paper for coin. In consequence 
of this state of feeling, the framers of the Constitution not only 
withheld from the general government the right to charter a bank 
that might issue paper money ; but prohibited the states from 
making anything but gold and silver a legal tender in the payment 
of debts. The evident purpose of the framers of the Constitution 
was to make specie the exclusive circulating medium of the country. 
" Now," said Oliver Elsworth, u is the favorable moment to shut 
and bar the door against paper money." The convention acted* 
upon this principle. 

In no other point could the government interfere with the inter- 
nal administration of the country. — The only power granted respect- 
ing internal improvements is the permission to establish post roads. 
In time of war, indeed, the government might impress property if 
the exigency demanded it ; but the value of the impressed property 
was always to be paid. 

It would seem that a government, with powers so carefully limited, 
could not prove dangerous to the sovereignty and independence of the 
states. With the sole exception of the power of taxation, it was not 
suffered to intrude within their sphere. Its jurisdiction was restricted 
to the administration of the foreign relations,and domestic intercourse, 
with only so much power over the internal concerns of the country 
as was necessarily incident to the discharge of its appropriate func- 

* In carrying out the same policy, the first revenue act of Congress made 
all revenue dues and duties payable in specie. 



TIJE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 

tions. Except this incidental right, the entire control of the 
domestic interests was carefully reserved to the several states. 

Additional Safeguards. 

Still the representatives of the states in the Convention, were 
distrustful. The idea of a Government, instead of a League, filled 
them with apprehension. Conscious of the tendency of power to 
aggregate and consolidate itself, they feared that the vast superior- 
ity of power possessed by the general government might tempt it 
to extend the limits of its authority into the reserved province of 
state jurisdiction, and engross in its own hands the entire adminis- 
tration of the country, domestic, as well as foreign. They thought 
it necessary not only to deny the general government the power to 
trench upon the reserved province of state jurisdiction, but to 
constitute it with such a system of balances and equipoises, as to 
oppose insuperable obstacles to its unconstitutional action. They 
even aspired to more than this ; and labored to construct the gov- 
ernment upon such a basis as to array all the functionaries of the 
general government in zealous support of the reserved rights of the 
states, and resolute opposition to any usurpation of unconstitutional 
power. 

The Legislative body was constituted in two branches. The 
House of Representatives was made, as far as possible, the repre- 
sentative of the several states. Its members were not national, but 
state representatives. The People of the several states, not the 
nation, were their constituencies. The Constitution recognized 
them as state representatives, in allowing each state a certain num- 
ber of representatives in ratio to the population, and in providing 
that any fractional excess of population, in any state, should be lost. 
The districts from which they were elected were apportioned by the 
state legislatures, and they were chosen by the people of each state 
in accordance with state regulations. It was naturally supposed 
that the lower House of Congress, as composed of state representa- 
tives, would jealously guard the rights of the states against uncon- 
stitutional usurpation. 

But, lest a majority of the people of the states should be carried 
away with gusts of excitement, or be swayed by sectional interest, 



68 

a co-ordinate branch of Congress was established. The Senate was 
designed to be the great conservative branch of the government. 
It was composed of representatives of state Governments, as the 
lower house was composed of representatives of the People of the 
states : they were elected by the state legislatures, and responsible 
to them for their acts. In the Senate, the state governments, being 
equal in dignity, were allowed an equal representation, irrespective 
of size or population. It was an assemblage of state delegates, 
representatives of their sovereignty, to carry out their will in the 
councils of the general government. If the House of Representa- 
tives should transcend the limits of constitutional powers, surely the 
conservative Senate would impose its negative in behalf of the rights 
of the state governments which were its constituencies. 

An additional barrier against legislative usurpation was erected 
in the veto power of the President. It was supposed that one who 
had attained the highest station in the republic, would be removed 
from the sphere of popular excitements, and henceforth live for his- 
tory. The electors who choose him are the representatives, partly of 
the people of the several states, and partly of the state government ; 
the states, and not the nation, are the constituency of the President, 
and it was supposed that he, in view of his exalted position, would 
guard the rights of the states, if necessary, against the action of 
both branches of the Federal legislature. 

The jealousy of federal usurpation, entertained by the framers 
of the Constitution, induced them to impose yet another barrier 
against legislative usurpation of power. A law transcending the 
limits of authority bestowed in the Constitution might be brought 
before the Supreme Court, and be annulled by the decision of that 
body. The constitution of the Supreme Court rendered it emi- 
nently conservative. The class of men from whom its members are 
selected are more impressible by legal principles than popular 
excitement; their appointment removes them from the clash of 
political agitation ; and the mode of their selection, rendering them 
indirectly the representatives of the several states, would incline 
them to watch jealously against federal encroachments. They are to 
be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the 
Senate. The Senate being the especial representative of the state 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 

governments, the presumption was that, as a rule, its advice and 
consent would be given to the appointment of those only who were 
known to be the determined advocates of the rights of the states. 

Thus the Senate, the representative of the state governments, 
was made the balance-wheel of the legislative department. The 
state governments, through their senatorial delegates, might pre- 
vent any unconstitutional legislation attempted by the Lower House. 
The length of the senatorial term was designed to protect it from 
temporary gusts of passion which might disturb the conservatism 
of the other branch of the legislature. Should, however, the Sen- 
ate itself assent to encroachments, and the President yield to the 
sway of the general impulse, then the Supreme Court would stem 
the tide of usurpation, and, by its firmness, give vigor to a reaction- 
ary movement. 

The conservative Senate was also made a restraint upon the Ex- 
ecutive. Executive appointments to office were to be made only 
with its advice and consent. Treaties with foreign nations were to 
be made only with its sanction ; and a vote of two-thirds was nec- 
essary to sanction business so important. Thus the sovereign 
states administered the most important business of the government 
through their delegates in the Senate. 

It would seem that, in a government thus constituted, the reserved 
rights of the states were safe from encroachments of the general 
government. Every safeguard was thrown around them human 
ingenuity could devise. Either house of Congress, the President, 
or the Supreme Court, could arrest unconstitutional action ; and the 
government, in all its departments, was constructed on a federal 
basis. The states, severally, were the constituencies of its Legis- 
lature, its Executive, its Judiciary; the lower house of Congress 
represented the people of the several states ; the Senate, the state 
governments ; the President and the Judiciary, both the state gov- 
ernments and the people of the states. It was not a national, but 
a federal government, constituted by the states to exercise func- 
tions to which they were incompetent in their several capacity. It 
was not a government over the states ; it was not an agent of the 
states ; it was the representative of the states, invested by them 
with powers to administer their foreign relations, and regulate their 



70 

mutual intercourse. The states were not merged in one under the 
government ; they were allies united in the government. It was 
their bond of union, and their representative agent. They stood to 
each other in the relation of representative and constituent ; the 
constituent retaining all original powers except those vested in per- 
petuity in the representative. Neither could be pronounced supe- 
rior to the other ; their spheres of power were distinct — each being 
sovereign in its own sphere and possessed of no power in the sphere 
of the other. The Federal Government was vested with absolute 
control of the foreign relations of the states in union ; the states 
retained the entire control of their domestic concerns. The states, 
individually, had no right to interfere with their foreign relations ; 
the Federal Government was equally powerless to interfere with the 
domestic interests of the states. 

It is remarkable that an instrument which, in its grand outline, 
embodies the perfection of government, was regarded by its framers 
as exceedingly imperfect. When the convention had completed its 
labors, not a member of the body was satisfied with the Constitution 
which had been framed. Embodying a compromise of opposing 
views and clashing interests, it was generally regarded as full of 
imperfections — an improvement, perhaps, upon the old Articles of 
Confederation, but far inferior to the ideal systems severally framed 
by the theorists of opposing schools. 

The advocates of centralization thought that the states retained 
too much power in their own hands, and asserted their influence so 
strongly through the federal features of the government, that their 
vigorous vitality would reduce the Federal Government to a nullity, 
and ultimate in the disintegration of the Union. On the other 
hand, the advocates of state sovereignty, from the tendency of 
power to accumulate authority in its own hands, were apprehensive 
that the aggregated power of the Federal Government being so 
vastly superior to that of the several states, would tempt it ultimately 
to assert a supremacy over them that would lead to centralization 
and imperialism. The Constitution was a compromise of these con- 
flicting parties. .The one party secured a government, instead of a 
league, which the other preferred ; the other carried their point in 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 71 

having the government based upon the sovereignty of the states. 
The one succeeded in establishing a vigorous Executive as a coun- 
terpoise to the federal features of the Constitution; the other labored 
to secure the rights of the states by vesting the most important 
functions of government in the conservative Senate, the immediate 
representative of the state governments. Each party believed that 
it had yielded too much to the other, and that the imperfections of 
the Constitution must secure the downfall of the government; the 
one believing that it would end in disruption through the power 
and jealousy of the states; the other that the tendency to centrali- 
zation would destroy the reserved powers of the states, and engross 
all authority in a centralized imperialism. 

It is strange that the clashing of discordant views should have 
given birth to a constitution which, in its general outline, strikes the 
golden mean between centralization and a disjointed league. In 
respect of details, the philosophic theorist may suggest amendments. 
Some of the granted powers might be conferred in phraseology 
more explicit, so as to debar the possibility of a dubious construc- 
tion ; the power and patronage of the Executive might be advanta- 
geously restricted to the limits contemplated by the framers of the 
Constitution, with the effect of diminishing the periodical excite- 
ments of the Presidential election : but, in its grand outline, the 
system of federal union is perfect. The idea of dividing the 
powers of government between the States and the Federal Govern- 
ment, allotting to each its sphere in which it is supreme, is a con- 
ception too brilliant for human genius to originate ; it could only 
arise from the suggestion of events, overruled and guided by divine 
Providence to that end. This idea, properly elaborated in its de- 
tails, embodies the perfection of government. It avoids the evils 
attendant upon every other system, and combines, in an eminent 
degree, efficiency of administration with the surest guaranties of 
liberty. 

III. Federal Republicanism the only Stable Form of Government. 

1st. Instability of all other Forms of Government. 
1. Instability of Monarchy. 
In the present state of the world, monarchy is, perhaps, the most 



72 the world's crisis. 

unstable of all governments. It involves an abnormal social state, 
which nothing but force can uphold. Force is the foundation of 
monarchy. It is the violent rule of one, or the few, over the many. 
It had its origin in violence, and when the masses will no longer be 
oppressed by armed force, the day of monarchy is over. 

The conditions, under which monarchy had its origin, are those 
most favorable to its continued existence. The chief of a warlike 
tribe subdued adjacent tribes, and subjected them to his sway. 
Here the oppression of subjected tribes bound his own people to the 
conqueror by the ties of pride and advantage, and the support of 
a favored portion of his subjects enabled the monarch to hold the 
rest of his dominions in unwilling and enforced subjection. Thus, 
monarchy owed its origin to the loyalty of the few, bribed by 
advantage, and seduced by pride to support the monarch in the 
oppression of the many. 

In the first age of monarchy, territorial position distinguished the 
loyal subjects of the monarchy from the oppressed : the population 
of the conquering tribe aided the monarch in keeping the con- 
quered in subjection. But gradually monarchies became consoli- 
dated. The recollection of conquest was erased from the minds of 
the subjected population, and a sentiment of loyalty became generally 
diffused throughout the extent of the kingdom. The support of the 
throne by the population of a limited territory was now exchanged 
for the support of a limited class. The leaders of the conquering 
tribe became the nobles of the realm, holding extensive possessions 
throughout the kingdom, and enjoying exclusive privileges. This 
class, linked to the throne by the ties of interest, enabled the mon- 
arch to maintain his sway over the unarmed and oppressed masses* 

But, whether maintained by the support of a limited territorial 
population, or of a favored aristocratic class, monarchy has always 
been the rule of violence, the few oppressing the many. The 
Roman dominion is the most memorable example of domination main- 
tained for ages by the swords of the conquering nation. Persia, the 
kingdoms of modern Europe, and almost all other monarchies, are 
examples of royal sway maintained by the loyal devotion of a 
favored class. 

Monarchy, however, has never been a stable form of government. 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 

It is always menaced with revolutions, — explosions of general dis- 
content. In oriental despotisms, where the sluggishness of the 
masses leaves the populace out of view, monarchy is often convulsed 
by dynastic revolutions, arising out of court intrigues or ambitious 
rivalry. European monarchy has always been threatened with 
popular revolution, arising out of the oppression of the masses. 
Here, from the earliest ages, popular outbreaks have compelled the 
sovereign to trust his power to the guardianship of the sword. 

The instability of monarchy increases in the ratio of the advance- 
ment of the age. The uninquiring loyalty of a dark age of general 
ignorance and debasement, patiently acquiesces in the rule of the 
sovereign, however oppressive his sway. Advancing civilization 
renders the subject impatient of oppression, and it becomes neces- 
sary to reinforce loyalty with priestcraft, in order to secure tole- 
rance of oppression and wrong. At length advancement reaches a 
stage where Absolutism is no longer practicable : the sovereign must 
appeal to force to maintain his power, and must ally the aristocracy 
to the throne by taking them into copartnership in the government, 
or at least exempting them from the oppression under which the 
masses groan. Monarchy now passes from unlimited despotism to 
the second stage, — aristocratic monarchy. 

But Aristocratic Monarchy is as impracticable in modern times as 
absolute despotism. Heavy taxation is a necessity of the existing 
order of things. The first aim of a dominant aristocracy is to 
secure and advance its material interests. It monopolizes the 
patronage of government, and exempts the property of the aris- 
tocracy from bearing its proportion of the public burdens. Tax- 
ation is so levied as to bear exclusively upon the industrious classes. 
At first this does not press insupportably upon industry. It is 
strong, and able to bear the heavy burden unflinchingly ; but gradu- 
ally, by the natural law of accumulation, property aggregates more 
and more in the hands of the wealthy and unburdened class ; the 
circle of exemption grows wider and wider ; the burden of taxation 
presses more and more heavily upon the diminishing means of the 
industrial class. The privileged aristocracy profits by the sufferings 
of industry to increase its possessions, so that the poorer the people 
become, the richer the aristocracy grows ; and the richer the aris- 



74 the world's crisis. 

tocracy grows, the heavier presses the burden of taxation upon the 
impoverished masses. This process is continually going on until the 
pressure of taxation and poverty becomes unendurable, and the peo- 
ple rise against their oppressors, and revolutionize the government. 

This was the course of causation which led to the French revolu- 
tion. The nobility refused to be taxed, and finally engrossed so 
much of the property of the country that the people could no 
longer support the burden of taxation necessary to meet the public 
expenditure. The government was under the necessity of assem- 
bling the States General to coerce the refractory nobles ; the depu- 
ties of the nation, once assembled, imposed a constitution upon the 
government, and, step by step, France became a republic. 

The only escape an aristocratic monarchy has from revolution 
and republicanism is, to widen the circle of privilege, and admit a 
greater number to share in the government. The British govern- 
ment has resorted to this alternative. 

Since the revolution of 1688, the Aristocracy has obtained entire 
control of the Parliament, and ruled the country with uncontrolled 
sway. But, in 1830, the general discontent reached such a height 
that the Aristocracy could not carry on the government alone, and 
were compelled either to face revolution, or to take the wealthy 
Aristocracy of Trade into copartnership in the government. This 
extension of political privilege has enabled the British government 
to go on for thirty years. The Nobility, supported by the Aristocracy 
of Trade, have been enabled to rule the country, in spite of the dis- 
content of the suffering masses. 

But it cannot stop here. Now the educated mechanics are 
clamoring for a share of political power. It is denied them by the 
aristocratic classes. Excitement is already running high; and only 
a period favorable to convulsion is needed to precipitate England 
into the vortex of revolution.* The governing classes in England 
must maintain their monopoly of government by violence. The 
Working Class once admitted to a share in the government, monarchy 
and privileged aristocracy are doomed, 

* This was, of course, written before the passage of the recent English Eeform 
BiU. 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 75 

Such is the tendency of the age. The stability of monarchy is 
past. The absolute sway of a king is no longer possible. The day 
of irresponsible despotism is over. Aristocratic monarchy is 
equally impracticable : royal oppression, even supported by a privi- 
leged aristocracy, can no longer silence the demands of an oppressed 
people, awake to a sense of injustice, and panting for redress. The 
throne and the aristocracy will concede as far as concession is con- 
sistent with the existence of their privileges ; when concession ceases, 
then revolution will precipitate the monarch from his throne, and 
establish a republic. 

European monarchy can not exist half a century longer. Every 
throne in western Europe has been compelled to make concessions 
to popular discontent. Europe is even now tottering on the verge 
of general convulsion. Monarchy has but one hope, — to attain 
universal dominion. Could a nation like Russia once master the 
world, the ruling nation, bound to the throne by pride and privilege, 
might rule the earth for ages, as Italy governed the Roman empire. 
Monarchy can no longer maintain itself by the support of a privi- 
leged class ; it must rest upon national support ; and the support 
of a nation to a throne can only be secured by the pride of conquest, 
and the plunder of a conquered world. Universal dominion, or ex- 
tinction, are the alternatives of monarchy. 

But it will be asked, why cannot monarchy adapt itself to the 
movement of the age, and base its sway upon popular affection? 
Because as a system of government it is radically defective. Cen- 
tralization is a necessary part of the monarchical constitution. A 
monarchical government must necessarily exercise control over the 
internal administration, as well as the foreign relations of the country. 
Enacting laws for the internal, as well as the external administration 
of the country, and enforcing them by executive authority, the mo- 
narchical government comes continually in contact with the people. 
It thus becomes the object at which discontent spits its venom. It 
is responsible for the unpopular acts of its agents : injudicious leg- 
islation brings reproach, and favoritism excites indignation. Even 
when unmerited, popular clamor attributes to the government the 
disasters of every financial crisis, and all the evils under which a 
population labors. No government which takes under its control the 



76 

internal affairs of a country can maintain its popularity. And mon- 
archy when unpopular must abdicate, or maintain its rule by the 
sword. Monarchy, being a centralization, can be maintained only by 
violence. 

Monarchy can not exist without having control of the internal 
concerns of the country: it can not exist without a privileged aris- 
tocracy. Neither of these is consistent with popularity. Popular 
consent would not long suffer a nobility to exist ; and a throne un- 
supported by an aristocracy could not co-exist with a democratic 
government. The first gust of discontent would overturn it; and 
the control of the internal administration could not but breed dis- 
content. 

Monarchy, founded in violence, can be perpetuated only by force. 
And the time is rapidly approaching Ayhen monarchy, as at present 
constituted, can be maintained by force no longer. Monarchy can 
only continue to exist by changing its form, through some powerful 
nation attaining universal dominion. 

2nd. Instability of all other Systems of Republicanism. 

History has rendered its verdict against the stability of a Confed- 
eration of Republics united in either a Centralization or a League. 

A Republic, consisting of a single state, is equally incapable of 
stability. The concentration of all the powers of administration, 
foreign and domestic, in a single hand, is even more objectionable, 
here, than in a monarchy. It leads equally to neglect of the duties 
of government ; it equally causes abuses of administration, oppress- 
ing one portion of the country to foster the interests of another, or 
one branch of industry to promote another. In a monarchy these 
evils are borne until they become intolerable and induce sedition. 
They equally cause outbursts of discontent in a republic. This first 
seeks redress at the ballot-box. Every election is an attempt to 
revolutionize the administration, engendering animosities which 
ultimately find vent in an appeal to arms. 

Even where the government does not provoke sectional discon- 
tent, the excessive concentration of power leads to agitations which 
end only in the subversion of republicanism. Elections are exciting 
in ratio to the importance of the office to be filled. No government 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 

can stand the shock of periodical elections where the powers of 
government are unlimited. Opinions will always differ respecting 
the policy of government, especially as regards the internal admin- 
istration. Here the government touches the dearest interests of 
every individual. Every commercial crisis, every period of finan- 
cial disaster, is traced to its influence ; and opposing factions, assail- 
ing and defending its policy, will eventually come to blows. 

Republicanism has always been menaced by two great and oppo- 
site dangers : popular excitement, tending to revolution ; and gov- 
ernmental usurpation, leading to tyranny. Both these evils take 
their rise in the centralization of power, and find their only remedy 
in its proper distribution. The concentration of power, vesting too 
much authority in a single hand, increases the excitement of elec- 
tions to a point dangerous to the stability of government. Were 
the government an absolute centralization, with all power vested in 
a single officer, the election of the ruler of the state would shake 
the republic to its center ; and the excitement of elections is intense 
in precise ratio to the degree of centralization. As centralization 
endangers a republic by gendering popular excitement, so the dis- 
tribution of the powers of the government diminishes the importance 
of the respective offices, until elections cease to be the occasion of 
popular fervor. Again, the concentration of power suggests tempt- 
ation to usurpation by the facility of its achievement ; but the dis- 
tribution of power renders combination at once necessary and 
hopeless, and withers disorderly ambition in the bud. 

The Distribution of Power is the only talisman to insure tran- 
quillity and secure the stability of government. 

The past experience of the world demonstrates the justice of this 
reasoning. All former republics have centralized in the hands of 
the government, both the foreign and domestic administration ; and 
all have fallen from the convulsions induced by this concentration 
of power. All the simple, unconfederated republics of former ages 
fell through popular turbulence, the fruit of the concentration of 
power in the hands of the people ; or through usurpation, induced 
by the concentration of power in the hands of the government. 
The representative system is no safeguard against the evils of cen- 
tralization. The factions which convulsed the French Republic, 



78 the world's crisis. 

derived their passionate energy from the magnitude of the stake ; 
the government was possessed of all power, and the factions strug- 
gled in blood-stained conflicts for its control, until the nation shel- 
tered itself from their fury beneath the shadow of despotism. The 
passions, which have so long convulsed Mexico, and at last led to 
the establishment of imperialism, arose from the unlimited power 
of the government over domestic as well as foreign relations. 

The concentration of all power in a single government — whether 
monarchy or republic — leads inevitably to convulsion. It is una- 
voidably incident to monarchy. That form of government -was 
stable while it was the simple rule of force. But since the people 
are awake to their rights, monarchy has come to partake of the 
instability of centralized republics. The old system of a single 
government, in which all the powers of administration were central- 
ized, would answer in a former age ; for then, if a republic fell, the 
people might find repose beneath the shadow of monarchy. But 
now monarchy gives no repose. Force can no longer rule. Pop- 
ulations have learned their rights, and have been taught their 
power. Oppression now always provokes revolt, and populations 
fly from the oppression of monarchy to republicanism. In our age 
a centralized government is no longer possible. The old system of 
a centralization of power, would keep the nations oscillating be- 
tween monarchy and republicanism, and finding repose in neither. 

The French nation is a striking instance of the working of the 
old system of government — a nation flying from tyranny to repub- 
licanism, taking shelter from the convulsions of a centralized repub- 
lic in the power of a despotic throne ; again, wearied of oppression, 
unseating the monarch and establishing a republic; and finally 
forced again to seek shelter from the factions, gendered by central- 
ization, beneath the strong arm of imperialism. In another century 
every civilized nation would be in the position of France, bal- 
ancing between the evils of despotism and centralized republican- 
ism, and oscillating, in periodical convulsions, from one extreme to 
the other. 

There are but two forms of stable government now possible for 
the world. The one is the sway of imperial despotism, subjecting 
the world to the rule of a conquering nation ; the other is the sys- 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 

tern of federal republicanism, outlined in the Constitution of the 

United States. Russia is preparing to subject the world to the one: 

Providence raised up the United States to give to the world the 

other. 

3d. The Stability of our System of Government. 

Just at the crisis when the political progression of mankind had 
completed its cycle, and Russia was preparing to carry back the 
course of progression to its beginning by subjecting mankind to 
the sway of a conquering despotism, divine Providence interposed 
to give to mankind, in the American Constitution, the system of 
government which alone is possible in the present state of the 
world. 

The Centralization of Power has been the cause of the downfall 
of all popular governments. No popular government has ever 
been able to stand which centralized in its hands both the foreign 
and the domestic administration. This centralization was the great 
primal cause of their ruin. The minor defects of their constitu- 
tions, as the want of the representative principle and of the division 
of the powers of government into three departments, exercised only 
a minor influence in bringing about their downfall. These were 
secondary causes. The ruinous defect of all former republics, — 
the prime cause of their downfall, was the centralization of all 
the powers of administration in the same government. Where this 
defect has existed, it mattered not whether the people exercised 
their sovereign powers in democratic assemblies or through a repre- 
sentative body ; it mattered not whether all the powers of govern- 
ment were lodged in the same hands, or distributed into three 
departments, — the government has invariably trodden the same road 
to ruin. Fallen man is too imperfect to be trusted with unlimited 
power. The errors, the delinquencies, the misdemeanors of officials, 
sooner or later, ruin every government which is possessed of too 
extensive jurisdiction. The only security lies in so distributing 
power that little shall anywhere be lodged in the same hands. 

The downfall of republics has been invariably brought about 
by centralization, as the prime cause, and by civil convulsion and 
violence in some form, as the means. The forms of civil convulsion 
are various : 



80 the world's crisis. 

1. Sometimes it is the collision of the several states of a con- 
federation. 

2. Sometimes the revolt of states against the centralized govern- 
ment. 

3. Sometimes the struggle of rival factions to obtain possession 
of the government. 

Centralization leads to civil convulsion by various paths ; but one 
follows the other as surely as death brings decay. 

1. Sometimes the inefficiency of the government injures the 
public interest, causing discontent, which ultimates in revolution. 
This is a frequent incident to centralized government, where the 
multiplicity of interests under its charge almost necessarily causes 
the neglect of some. 

2. Sometimes the injustice of the government, displaying local 
favoritism or a partiality to special interests, excites the resent- 
ment of states, or classes of men, and leads either to the insurrection 
of masses of individuals, or to the revolt of states. 

3. Sometimes the clashing of parties, advocating adverse lines 
of policy, begets a political excitement which issues in civil strife. 

4. Sometimes the magnitude of the power and emoluments of 
office excite disappointed partizans to attempt to seize the govern- 
ment by violence. 

The cause of the excitement of passions, in every instance, is tho 
centralization of all departments of administration in the hands of 
the government. The government is so oppressed with business 
that it performs its functions negligently ; or it has power enough 
to become oppressive ; or its course of administration becomes so 
important as to excite factious struggles between the advocates of 
opposite lines of policy; or the prize of power and emolument is 
so alluring as to excite defeated factions to an appeal to arms. 

The only safety to republicanism lies in the distribution of power. 
This alone can prevent the strife of angry passions, and secure the 
tranquillity and perpetuity of government. 

In the American federal system the distribution of power is car- 
ried to perfection. 

The original powers of government, inherent in the people, are 
vested in two depositories : the internal administration is left to the 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 

states ; the management of foreign relations, and of inter-state 
comity, is vested in the Federal government. 

And each of these departments of the public administration is so 
intimately subdivided, that no important powers are lodged in any 
single office. 

The internal administration is so complex and so important that, 
if its entire control were vested in a single government, it would 
lead to the most violent political contests, resulting either in violent 
disruption, through popular excitement, or in- the aggregation of all 
power in the hands of the government of internal administration. 
The danger of turbulence on the one hand, and of oppression on 
the other, is avoided through the subdivision of this power among 
the various states, and the distribution of the power of each state 
among three departments of administration. Through this minute 
subdivision of power the internal administration causes no excite- 
ment whatever. State politics are almost entirely devoid of excite- 
ment. 

The powers of the Federal government are also similarly distrib- 
uted among the several departments; no powers of extreme im- 
portance being lodged in any branch of the administration. Con- 
sequently, the elections to federal offices are, with one exception, 
generally unattended with passion. The election of representatives 
and senators to Congress, and the appointment of the judges of the 
Supreme Court never convulsed the country. And had the Federal 
government always restricted its action to the foreign relations of 
the country, Congressional elections would have proved still less 
exciting, and would have been attended with as little passion as 
elections of state legislators. 

The single exception is found in the election of the Federal Ex- 
ecutive. Presidential elections have always profoundly agitated 
the country. But this is not owing to any constitutional defect in 
the structure of the government. The fact shows that too much 
power inures* in the presidential office. This is true, but it is power 

* What follows upon the power of the President, appertains not to our Gov- 
ernment, as administered in the past, but to the Government as framed in the 
Constitution. The power of the Executive is too great, but it will not answer to 
diminish it while unconstitutional legislative authority is assumed. It has fre- 

6 



82 

with which the Constitution did not vest the Executive. The ex- 
altation of the executive authority is owing to the unconstitutional 
encroachments of the Federal government upon the internal admin- 
istration of the country ; and to the fact that Congress has never 
imposed the restrictions upon Executive patronage which the Con- 
stitution contemplated. 

The power of the President is two-fold, — legislative and execu- 
tive. 

The veto power vests the President with legislative power, and 
his voice is equal to the vote of one-sixth of Congress. While the 
government restricted itself to the foreign relations of the country, 
this would not vest the executive office with excessive importance. 
But when Congress assumes power over the internal administration 
also, the veto power of the President invests his office with tran- 
scendent importance. In a nearly balanced state of parties he 
holds the balance of power, and can sanction or annul the action 
of Congress at will. The party which is in a minority in Congress 
strains every nerve to elect a President devoted to its views, since 
his veto can arrest the legislation of its opponents. The result is 
periodical contests of unexampled violence. The struggle to secure 
the legislative power of the President is rendered the fiercer from 
the fact that the usurpation of Congress, in transcending the limits 
of its constitutional jurisdiction and trenching upon the internal 
administration, has invested federal legislation with excessive im- 
portance. The laws of Congress touch the dearest interests of the 
people, and the President's power to sanction or thwart them ren- 
ders him a most important legislative functionary, whose election 
cannot but be attended with the most passionate excitement. 

The executive power of the President, also, is increased much 
beyond the limits contemplated by the Constitution. That instru- 
ment authorized Congress to limit the patronage of the executive 

quently occurred in our past history, that the great power of the President, being 
the only counterpoise to the unconstitutional action of Congress, has saved 
the republic from disaster. What we need is the restriction both of executive 
and legislative power, to their constitutional limit. To diminish one without 
diminishing the other, would destroy the balance established by the Consti- 
tution. 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 

by vesting the appointment of sub-officials, either in the heads of 
departments, or in the courts of law. Vesting this power in the 
courts of law would have removed public offices from politics ; but 
instead, political parties, desiring to increase the power of the Execu- 
tive for party aims, have left patronage in the hands of the Presi- 
dent, and that monstrous innovation — Rotation in office — has exalted 
executive patronage until every presidential election agitates the 
country as with the throes of a political earthquake. 

The remedy lies in the distribution of power, for which the 
constitution has provided. Let the executive be stripped of its 
patronage by vesting the appointment of sub-officials in the courts 
of law, and let the Federal Congress abandon the course of uncon- 
stitutional usurpation of power over the internal administration, — 
and the power of the President will no longer be so great as to 
agitate the country in presidential elections. In a government 
administered in accordance with the principles of the Constitution, 
a presidential election would excite no greater passion than the 
election of the governor of a state. 

The evils that have afflicted our republic arise, not from defects 
in the Constitution, but from violations of the Constitution. The 
unconstitutional centralization of power in the Federal Congress, 
and in the President, has proved the Pandora's box whence issued 
all our woes. Let not the reproach due to unconstitutional usurpa- 
tion be heaped upon our system of government. The distribution 
of power for which it provides, is perfect. — Such a government 
presents the surest guarantees of stability, in its efficiency, its jus- 
tice, and its freedom from excitement. Let us briefly notice its 
excellence in these particulars. 

1. It is the most efficient government that can be devised ; pro- 
viding for the best administration, both of foreign relations and 
domestic interests. 

The Federal Government, occupied exclusively with foreign re- 
lations, need neglect no department of the public interest. Em- 
bodying in itself the power of all the states, it commands the 
respect of foreign nations. The states, sheltered beneath the aegis 
of Federal protection, and withdrawn from the excitements of 



84 the world's crisis. 

foreign affairs, turn their undivided energies to the domestic admin- 
istration. Thus, neither of the grand departments of public admin- 
istration can suffer from neglect. No exigency of foreign politics 
can withdraw the state governments from a judicious internal ad- 
ministration ; no domestic crisis, industrial, or financial, distracts the 
Federal government from its watchful oversight of foreign policy. 

This system secures the most perfect equity of administration. 

Under this system, every state, and every interest, is secure of 
equal justice and equal rights. A general government that con- 
trols the internal affairs of a country must afford undue advantages 
to some sections, and some interests, to the detriment of others, 
giving rise to a sense of grievance and begetting alienation. But 
here domestic concerns are left entirely to the control of the states ; 
and in the Constitution, the states mutually agree not to further 
their several interests by legislation adverse to the interests of 
others. Each state manages its own affairs without external influ- 
ence, and the industry of all . sections is left alike to the action of 
the laws which govern industrial development. The influence of the 
Federal government is never felt within the province of the states. 
Its power can never become oppressive of the people, or injurious 
to their interests. 

This system maintains perfect domestic tranquillity. 

The efficiency and equity of the Federal government are sufficient 
guarantees against agitation arising from popular discontent. 

The limitation of Federal power prevents the government from 
becoming an object of such supreme importance as to induce factious 
bitterness in elections, and civil war for its control between excited 
parties. A crisis would rarely occur when the foreign policy would 
possess sufficient importance to cause excited strife ; and such crises 
never continue long enough to admit of opposing parties consoli- 
dating in support of adverse lines of policy. In quiet times such 
a government would be entirely free from political agitation; no 
issues would exist on which parties could be organized : worth and 
merit would be* the only title to political position. 

* It is evident that the framers of the constitution did not anticipate exciting 
party contests. Had they expected such a state of things they would not have 



THE MISSION OP THE UNITED STATES. 85 

This system carefully guards against the convulsions which have 
caused the downfall of all former confederations. Leagues have 
fallen from the collision of rival states arraying all the members of 
the confederation beneath their hostile banners: Centralizations have 
fallen from the revolt of insurgent states against the oppression of 
the central government. Here, both these evils are carefully guarded 
against. 

The states can not come into antagonism with each other. The 
limits of their several jurisdictions preclude a collision of the gov- 
ernments ; antagonism of their citizens is prevented from involving 
the states in controversy, by the intervention of the Federal judiciary, 
which alone has jurisdiction of such cases. Rivalry of interest may 
excite individual emulation; but, when neither state has land and 
naval forces, it can never lead to armed collision. The federal sys- 
tem secures uninterrupted harmony between the state governments. 

Nor can a collision occur between the states and the Federal govern- 
ment. Each moves in a separate and distinct sphere. The Federal 
government can not interfere in the reserved province of state sov- 
ereignty : the states can not intrude into the sphere allotted to fed- 
eral jurisdiction. 

The entire system moves forward in harmonious adjustment under 
the constitution, without the possibility of collision. The Federal 
government is only known to the states and the people as the dis- 
penser of benefactions. Its judiciary is the arbiter of their differ- 
ences; its power is their shield against foreign violence; its voice, 
its arm, is the powerful interposition of all the states to allay irri- 
tation, to appease discord, in any one. As the peacemaker and 
promoter of friendship between the states, and the common executive 
of them all to administer foreign relations, the Federal government 
must endear itself by the experience of its benefits. 

arranged the presidential elections as they did. They provided that the second 
candidate on the list should be Vice President. This was a good arrangement 
if a presidential election was merely a choice between distinguished citizens, to 
determine which should be elevated to an honorable office. But, when parties 
sprung up it was very inconvenient; for the Vice President might belong to a 
different party from the President, when the death of the President would give 
the administration into the hands of his political antagonists. 



86 the world's crisis. 

The system is so simple, so beautiful, so harmonious, that it seems 
"wonderful that it was never discovered before : the internal admin- 
istration, ever the fruitful source of faction and discord, withheld 
from the Federal government, and retained in the control of sov- 
ereignties too small for their interests to become the subject of factious 
discord ; the foreign relations committed to the exclusive control of 
the federal agent of the state governments. 

Were such a government as this established in France, republic- 
anism would become possible among that mercurial people. If each 
geographical "department" of France were organized into a state, 
with a local government having exclusive jurisdiction of its internal 
affairs, while the general government of the nation was restricted to 
the foreign administration, the cabals, intrigues, and outbreaks of fac- 
tions, which have repeatedly wrecked the republic, could never occur. 

The last French republic fell before the fanaticism of the Red Re- 
publicans, who sought to control the government for the establishment 
of their leveling principles. The property classes, in alarm for their 
interests, sought protection in Imperialism from the schemes of these 
fanatics. But Red Republicanism could have no aim in a government 
having no jurisdiction of domestic affairs. Such a government 
could take no cognizance of their schemes. Their agitation would 
be restricted to the local governments of the " departments ;" here 
they would be no longer dangerous ; and the Federal republic, released 
from all agitating questions, would move quietly on in its sphere. 

The same disquieting control of the internal affairs of the country 
has caused all the convulsions which have shaken the Mexican 
republic ever since its establishment. 

It has been the fashion to affirm that Mexico and the European na- 
tions are not sufficiently advanced for self-government. But the diffi- 
culty lies in the machinery of government. If a government becomes 
oppressive — as every government does which arrogates to itself the in- 
ternal administration of a great country — enlightenment will never 
render the people submissive. On the contrary, their restiveness will 
be in the ratio of their advancement. No people are, or ever will 
be, too enlightened to resist oppression : any nation in Christendom 
is sufficiently advanced to rest contented under a government which 
neither contravenes their prejudices, nor infringes their rights. 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. b< 

Not advancement, but a proper govermental system, is needed. 
A constitution properly framed so subdivides the powers of adminis- 
tration, that there is not power enough lodged at any point to induce 
agitation in the public mind, or to enable unbridled ambition to pre- 
cipitate revolution and seize upon the administration. Such a govern- 
ment, restricted within its constitutional limits, may be harmoniously 
conducted by a people but slightly advanced in civilization. It is 
the only form of government which will not be continually shaken by 
discord, and eventually overthrown by revolution. The past expe- 
rience of republics does not apply to a government constructed on 
the principles of the American Constitution. That instrument 
provides against the evils which wrought their ruin. It is destined 
to solve the grand political problem of a government of the people, 
combining in itself the merits of freedom, efficiency, and stability. 

A republic, founded upon the division of power established in the 
Constitution of the United States, is not only stable, and capable of 
perpetuity ; it, furthermore, has the capacity of indefinite exten- 
sion. Other forms of government become too unwieldy by enlarge- 
ment of boundaries. The internal administration becomes too 
complicated for management. The interests of some sections are 
neglected, or are sacrificed by bargain and intrigue for the further- 
ance of other national interests. " Log-rolling " is reduced to a 
system, and corruption or neglect reaches a point where the prompt- 
ings of self-interest compel the dismemberment of the republic. But 
this is obviated in the division of the powers of government. Where 
the several states attend each to its own local interests, each can 
adopt necessary measures without neglect, and without the bargain 
and compromise necessary in a broader territorial sovereignty. So 
far as the internal administration is concerned, it does not matter 
how extensive the boundaries of a Federal republic. 

Nor does the enlargement of boundaries increase the difficulties 
of the foreign administration. On the contrary, the difficulty of 
foreign relations diminishes in ratio to the enlargement of the re- 
public ; until, should it embrace the whole earth, there would no 
longer remain foreign relations to administer, and the powers of the 
government would be restricted to promoting the intercourse be- 



88 

tween the states. Thus, such a government presents the singular 
anomaly, of having the sphere of its powers narrowed as the field 
for their exercise is widened. Every enlargement of its boundaries 
renders the task of administration lighter : its energy may be 
diminished with every extension of the area of its sway. 

A federal republic grows more stable with every enlargement of 
its boundaries. No danger can arise from the internal administra- 
tion, for this is under the control of the states. The only danger 
that threatens it arises from foreign wars. While the world is at 
peace, foreign affairs are too tranquil to excite the public mind : no 
question of foreign policy can arise, upon which party lines may be 
drawn. But when foreign nations are at war, the question of neu- 
trality or intervention agitates the public mind; and when the 
republic is itself engaged in war, its administration undergoes an 
instantaneous change. Its task is, then, to organize and direct the 
energies of the nation. War brings it into immediate contact with 
the people. The necessity for energy in its sphere compels it to 
impose burdens not always patiently borne. Moreover, military 
chieftains arise, whose battle-won popularity enables them to usurp 
an influence, to which their habits prompt them to aspire. War is 
the only rock upon which a Federal republic, whose government is 
administered under a states-rights constitution, can break. And the 
more powerful the republic, the less the danger arising from war. 
Every accession of power diminishes the chances of war ; and, in the 
event of its occurrence, the increased strength of the republic en- 
ables it to bear the burdens it imposes without trending dangerously 
upon the internal administration; as the effort which cracks the 
sinews of a pigmy is scarcely felt by a giant's arm. 

An extensive Federal republic is more stable than one confined 
within narrow limits. The stability of such a government will only 
reach its maximum when it embraces all the nations of the earth. 

The destiny of Republicanism is peace. Its genius is unsuited to 
the stern conflicts of war. The rocking of the earthquake dislo- 
cates the machinery which revolves with easy, noiseless motion 
while resting upon the tranquil earth. Republicanism was designed 
for peace, not for the din of arms. Justice and beneficence are its 
blessed agencies of influence ; gratitude, reverence, and affection 



THE MISSION OP THE UNITED STATES. 89 

are the golden links which bind the willing subjects of its sway. 
Its destiny will only be realized when our noble Constitution, the 
best gift of Providence to the nations, shall link the world in the 
bonds of amity. May that destiny be realized in our own republic. 
With its government at length administered in accordance with the 
principles of the Constitution — inflicting wrong upon none, con- 
serving the rights of all — may it at length unite mankind in the 
bonds of a common patriotism, and, maintaining peace and good 
will among men, usher in the Millennial era of peace and blessed- 
ness, and strong in the affections of mankind endure forever. 

Sect. II. — The Past Career of the United States, evidence of 
its Mission as the Promoter of Republican Government. 
The strongest argument in support of the Providential mission 
of the United States, ought to be found in the past history of the 
country. And had the administration of the government faithfully 
exemplified the principles of the Constitution, such would be the 
fact : the grandeur to which we should ere now have attained, and 
the immense influence we should have exerted, would exhibit the 
manifest destiny of the country in so clear a light as to place the 
subject beyond the necessity of argument. But our unfaithfulness 
to our institutions has no parallel, except that of Israel. The adr 
ministration of our government, as will appear in the following 
pages, has been almost continually in violation of the Constitution. 
These violations of the Constitution have dwarfed and warped our 
growth, and marred our influence ; and, consequently, our past 
career bears very imperfect testimony in support of the fact that 
divine Providence has marked out for us a path nobler than any 
nation has ever trod. Still, through our marred career, glimpses 
of what we might have been, appear. Even in its present fallen 
state, our country appears 

'Not 
Less than Arch -angel ruined, and th' excess 
Of glory obscured" 

What we might have been, it boots not now to inquire. But even in 
what we have been, and are, the traces of a glorious destiny appear. 



90 

I. The Unprecedented Progress of the Country. 

Many considerations point to the conclusion that Republicanism 
is the form of government destined to prevail in the earth. Mon- 
archy is not of divine appointment, but is the offshoot of ambition 
and violence. When the Almighty gave a government to his 
chosen people, a Theocratic Federal Republic was the form estab- 
lished. But perhaps the most significant fact of all is the remark- 
able manner in which republics have, in every age, been the most 
favored nations of the earth, — foremost in wealth, in arts, in influ- 
ence. 

It is one of God's laws in governing the world to center the 
attention of mankind upon the nation whose elevated institutions 
mark it as the destined header of advancement, by bestowing upon 
it extraordinary prosperity. 

Thus the attention of the world was attracted to the institutions 
of Israel — political and religious — by the extraordinary prosperity 
of the nation, — a prosperity the nation might have enjoyed ages 
before, if it had been imbued with the spirit of its institutions. 
Afterward, Babylon was raised up, to lead guilty Israel into cap- 
tivity, and to transfer the trade of the world from Tyre to the free 
states of Greece. For centuries, the glory of republican Greece 
attracted the attention of mankind to its Thought, and its Free 
institutions. When Greece withered — as all nations wither, in the 
glare of prosperity — Rome, with greatness born of Grecian thought, 
and Grecian institutions, became the center of power and wealth. 
In the Middle Ages, wealth and commerce centered in the Italian 
republics, and the free cities of Germany. The Dutch Republic 
next became the great commercial center ; until England having 
become a republic by the Revolution of 1640, and having conserved 
her free institutions by the revolution of 1688, the scepter of com- 
merce passed to her hands. — The singular way in which prosperity 
has always clung to republics, making them the leaders of progress, 
is profoundly significant. Something is doubtless due to the energy 
of character which free institutions develop. But a history of 
commerce, showing the causes through which commerce has passed 
from nation to nation, will show that, not in the operation of the 
regular laws of industry, but in events directed by super-human 



THE MISSION OF TIIE UNITED STATES. 91 

design, must be recognized the causes which, in every age, have 
given into the hands of republics the scepter of progress. 

But nothing in history is so remarkable as the line of causation, 
which has enabled the United States to condense into half a century 
the growth of five hundred years. Six years ago, every ocean was 
covered with our sails ; innumerable vessels plied upon our internal 
waters ; canals and railways supplied artificial communication in 
every quarter ; cities have sprung up, as if by magic, in the heart 
of the wilderness : in all the elements of wealth, of development, 
we stand abreast of the oldest and richest nations on the globe. 
Though dwarfed and warped by the unconstitutional legislation of 
the government, and far short of what it might have been, our 
growth is without a parallel in the history of the world. Its history 
seems more like a creation of the oriental imagination than the 
realization of sober fact. 

Whence this unparalleled growth? What is the origin pf this 
almost preternatural development, not only in population, but in 
all the elements of wealth ? It is not attributable to population and 
energy merely, but to capital. We have had an unlimited command 
of capital which, though not wisely used, has wrought wonders, — 
capital derived from a system of industry which sprung up contem- 
poraneously with our national existence, as if expressly for our 
benefit. 

The American Constitution and a new Industrial Era had simulta- 
neous birth, — twin blessings, with which Providence designed to 
crown the same nation. The obligation and the recompense were 
conferred together, — and our reward has been proportioned to our 
faithfulness. Had we have been true to our institutions, the prize 
of the industrial era would have been ours. Our governmental 
derelictions have caused us to fall short of the glorious prosperity 
within our grasp, and have suffered European nations to partake 
the feast, while we have only gathered the crumbs that fell from the 
table. Still, our portion has advanced us, as nation never advanced 
before. — Let us trace the rise of this era of manufactures and in- 
dustry which has so wonderfully fostered our growth. 

The perfection of the steam-engine was the first step in the won- 
derful course of invention that has revolutionized the industry of 



92 

the world, and multiplied its commerce and wealth. The next step 
was the perfection of the ' spinning jenny/ which spun yarns by 
machinery without the employment of manual labor. These in- 
ventions created a demand for cotton, greater than the whole world 
could supply while the staple was picked from the seed by hand. 
Next, the cotton-gin was invented, and America readily supplied 
the limited demand by her seaboard production. The cheap and 
abundant supply of cotton stimulated ingenuity to invent some 
machine which would enable manufacturers to weave the cloth more 
rapidly and cheaply than by means of the hand-loom. The power- 
loom was at length perfected, — and now the manufacture of cotton 
goods was only limited by the demand, and the supply of raw mate- 
rial. The seaboard of America could no longer meet the growing de- 
mand of the cotton market, and flatboats bore the staple down the in- 
terior rivers to the sea. But this involved great labor and expense; 
and without the discovery of some new mode of navigation, the 
cotton manufacture must have languished, and the finest lands on 
the Western Continent remained unproductive. But, lo ! as soon 
as needed, steamboats plow the waters of our streams, and readily 
convey the products of the teeming soil to the ocean. Still the 
cycle of invention is incomplete : the manufacture of cotton is 
restricted by the difficulty of conveying the raw material from 
English ports to the mills in the interior ; by the difficulty of access 
to many interior markets for cotton goods ; and by the impossibility 
of producing the raw material in interior districts remote from 
river transportation. Then railways are invented : and the planter 
in the interior conveys his cotton to market without difficulty ; the 
manufacturer transports it with facility to his mill ; and railways 
open up markets in the remotest districts for the new and grandest 
manufacture of the age. 

America suddenly becomes the center of the world's industry. 
The whole nation enters with ardor into the production of cotton : 
the South, furnishing the soil and the industry ; and the North sup- 
plying stock, farming implements, food and clothing for the opera- 
tives, and the means of transportation to market. The population is 
insufficient for the demands of industry, — and millions of industrious 
foreigners swarm upon our shores, to make our railways, to build 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 

our cities, and fill the thousand avocations to which enterprise 
invites. The wealth of the world flows in upon us, enabling us to 
command the industry of all nations, to speed our progress. The 
earth yields its hidden treasures : the gold of California fills our 
coffers, and is diffused among the nations to stimulate industry, 
awaken commercial life, and open new markets for our products ; 
and, finally, the wheels of commerce are lubricated with the oil 
distilled in the laboratory of nature millions of ages ago, and now 
first brought to light, — a new and unexpected gift of a bountiful 
Providence to its favored child. 

Our growth has not kept pace with our advantages. The grand 
benefactions of Providence are more wonderful than our progress. 
A new Era, born of new inventions and novel modes of industry, 
springs into existence to bless our birth. New inventions are made, 
to entice us into a new course of industry, for want of which the 
colonies had languished nearly two hundred years. No new inven- 
tion is needed to further our interests, but it is instantly made. The 
human mind, suddenly, as by inspiration, seeks new channels of 
practical thought, unknown, undreamed of since the world began, — 
and of it all we derive the benefit. The new era makes compara- 
tively little change in the Old World, already developed by a thou- 
sand years of plodding industry ; — but it nerves us for our career as 
with a Titan's vigor. 

We claim to ourselves the credit of our advancement ; but our 
energy has not surpassed that of our fathers while the country 
languished through its colonial existence. — Not to us the honor 
belongs, but to Him who has given his chosen, richest blessings to 
us, the last and noblest of the republics. Let us be humble : not 
we, but our institutions are honored of God, that mankind may 
revere the liberty which attracts to us the smiles of heaven. 

II. The Political Influence op our Country. 
Compare the present political condition of the world with its state 
when the American Declaration of Independence startled monarchs, 
and aroused oppressed nations by its bold enunciation of princi- 
ples,— and how great the change. Then, except the Swiss Confed- 
eration, not a really liberal government existed in the world. 



94 the world's crisis. 

Absolutism prevailed upon the continent of Europe : there did not 
exist a single constitutional throne. Aristocracy and crown alike 
oppressed degraded populations, who had scarcely heard the name 
of Liberty. The professedly free government of England was a 
sham : the aristocracy had robbed the monarch of his power and 
appropriated it to themselves ; and the country groaned beneath 
the sway of an oligarchy as absolute and oppressive as the govern- 
ment of Russia. 

Now all seems changed. Absolutism has been declining ever 
since our War of Independence. The English oligarchs have been 
deposed from power ; France is governed by a parliament elected 
by the vote of the whole population ; every sovereign of Central 
and AVestern Europe occupies a constitutional throne : the light has 
even penetrated Russia, and forced the Czar to make concessions 
to the aggressive spirit of the age. Europe seems slowly tending 
by a regular course of progression toward republicanism. Mon- 
archy has been compelled to propitiate Republicanism by admitting 
it to a partnership in the throne. But monarchy and free repre- 
sentative assemblies cannot coalesce. The partnership between 
incompatibilities cannot much longer endure. Unless through our 
fault a reaction occur in favor of despotism, progress must con- 
tinue, and Republicanism, dissatisfied with existing concessions, will 
topple its gray-beard partner from the throne, and sway alone the 
scepter of government. 

How came this great change about ? Philosophers had declaimed 
against existing evils, and indulged in many speculations with refer- 
ence to the best remedy for the growing corruption of the body 
politic ;- — but neither their complaints nor their speculations had been 
productive of benefit. The people, stung by misery to insurrection, 
had risen again and again upon their oppressors ; but their objectless 
struggles had proved fruitless, and, after every effort, they sunk into 
more abject slavery than before. The American Revolution changed 
all this in a moment. It shone, a bright beacon, to light the oppressed 
to the haven of liberty; and henceforth, in periods of political tem- 
pest, every eye was strained upon it; and now strong arms are 
nerved, and longing hearts are cheered, by perceiving that, despite 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 

the adverse bufferings of a rough and stormy sea, they are gradu- 
ally nearing the goal of their hopes. 

The French Revolution transplanted a shoot of American liberty 
to the soil of Europe. The torch which lighted Europe with con- 
flagration was kindled at our altar. 

The outbreak in France was an inevitable result of overgrown 
and intolerable abuses ; but it would never have attained the rank 
of Revolution had not our example given it intelligent direction. 
The tendency to Republicanism was given by minds influenced by 
observation and contact with American institutions. The Revolu- 
tion failed ; — but it left Constitutional Monarchy as its legacy to 
posterity. To it was owing the partial reform of the English gov- 
ernment relieving the country from the domination of a feudal aris- 
tocracy, and the establishment of constitutional government in all 
the states of Central and Western Europe. 

Had we been true to our Constitution, the prolonged struggle 
going on in Europe between Absolutism and Progress would, ere 
now, have been decided in favor of the latter. The cause of lib- 
erty would now be safe, and Europe, on the highway toward re- 
publicanism. But we have done very little to forward repub- 
licanism by direct influence. Our example gave the impulse, but 
when the crisis came to complete our work, the violations of our 
Constitution by the Federal Government had brought us into a 
position which rendered our influence nugatory, and left events to 
take a course adverse to liberty. Had we been true to our Consti- 
tution, the world would now be free. As it is, we may be said 
to have abdicated our place as the leader of republican progress. 
France has become the standard-bearer. Reaction, through our 
fault, has set in ! Absolutism is arming itself to crush out liberty 
in Europe and the world ! France stands unsupported in the breach! 
Unless we return without delay to the abandoned principles of 
the Constitution, all that has been won will be lost, and we shall be 
left to fight the battle of Freedom alone against a world in arms ! 

We have done much for liberty : we have left more undone. 

III. The Analogies of Past History. 
The present condition of the world is truly alarming. In Europe 



96 the world's crisis. 

the wave of republicanism that rose so high upon the battlements 
of monarchy and threatened to sweep thrones away, is receding. 
A violent reaction is setting in, which threatens to establish des- 
potism on a firmer basis than during centuries before. We might 
well tremble for republicanism, were it not for our hope in the God 
of providence. Our faith is strengthened by the analogies of past 
history. Despite our derelictions, we shall yet fulfill our destiny. 
Awakened to our errors before it is too late, we will return to the 
path from which we have strayed, and assuming our rightful posi- 
tion marshal the nations on in the career of liberty and advance- 
ment. 

Nature and history are the records of the working of the same 
Infinite Mind. As the phenomena of the material universe display 
the outworking of the great laws of material development, so in 
the political world, the great eras of history present the embodi- 
ment and the development of the principles which govern human 
progress. And as every great convulsion of Nature inaugurating 
a new geological era is marked by features which assimilate it to 
those that preceded it, so each grand era of political convulsion 
cradling a new era of progress presents marks to identify it with 
similar epochs in former ages. 

The great transition periods of the world's progress offer striking 
points of analogy. The grand eras of history, like successive waves 
rolling from the ocean to the shore, present strong features of re- 
semblance, even in minor points. The student of history need not 
greatly err in reasoning from the past to the present. 

Some facts are so universally true, that they may be stated as 
historical axioms. Among them are the following : — 

1. An effete civilization is the sure indication of the decline and 
approaching ruin of the institutions in which it has embodiment : it 
has performed its office in the course of human advancement, and 
must give way to a higher form of social, governmental, and intel- 
lectual life. A declining Civilization is never revivified into the 
freshness of a second youth. It flowers but once, and when its 
petals wither, and its leaves fade and fall, it languishes in exhausted 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 

vitality until the plowshare uproots it, to give place to a new and 
more vigorous plant. 

2. In the absence of any fresh embodiment of the principle of ad- 
vancement, the decadence of the old institutions continues to un- 
dergo new modifications in endless progression ; until the principles 
of progress, having taken root in a new soil, give birth to a new 
form of political life, which in its progress shall overthrow and dis- 
place the institutions whose vitality is exhausted. 

3. The existence of an effete state of society, side by side with 
new and vigorous elements of progress, is an indication that the Old 
era is about to give place to the New. 

History bears unalterable testimony to the truth of these axioms. 

No effete civilization has ever renewed its vigor. Oriental des- 
potisms, once so powerful, have been languishing for centuries. 
They never have, they never can revive their pristine vigor. The 
state of society to which they were adapted, and which gave them 
their energy, is worn out, and its vitality can never be restored. 
They will continue to stand powerless and inefficient, until some 
fresh form of social life, embodied in young and vigorous institu- 
tions, shall come into contact with and supersede them. 

Such has always been the course of human advancement. 

The idolatrous Sabianism had run its course, and Chaldean Magi- 
anism had developed its highest form of civilization, when Persian 
Magianism appeared on the scene. 

The Iconoclasm of Persia in its triumph overturned the idol 
temples of Babylon, and established in their stead the worship of 
the spirit God of Magianism. The glory of the Persian empire 
disseminated among the nations the noble system of philosophy, 
based on the idea of one Supreme Being. But soon the force of 
the idea was spent. The Persian empire sunk into the decline con- 
sequent upon its decaying civilization. 

Meantime ijie sages of Greece had seized upon the new thought 
which the grandeur of Persia had disseminated. The schools of 
learning had elaborated it into systems of philosophy which roused 
the national mind from the slumber of ages. The freshness of in- 
tellectual ardor gave birth to an exalted virtue and a patriotism 
7 



98 

unknown before. Old ideas were discarded. The development of 
new thought led to astonishing political changes. Honored dynas- 
ties fell, and in the establishment of republics upon their ruins, the 
world beheld with wonder the development of democratic institu- 
tions, — an unheard of innovation in politics. 

The coexistence of Grecian freedom and philosophy with the 
inert despotism of Persia might have indicated to the philosophic 
mind that the decaying life of the latter was about to give place to 
the fresh vigor of Grecian institutions. The conquests of Alexan- 
der fulfilled the presage. 

But soon the philosophy of Greece lapsed from its influence over 
national thought. Corruption and decay marked the decline of 
Grecian virtue. Grecian power only remained until a more vigor- 
ous form of national life should come in contact with and super- 
sede it. 

Meanwhile Rome was ripening for its mission. The results of 
Greek philosophy had been transplanted into Italy, where Rome 
engrafted upon its Etruscan civilization the elevated institutions of 
its polished neighbors. Greek philosophy molded into law, cast 
the Roman character into a form of stern, stoical virtue, without 
precedent or parallel. As Greece declined, Roman civilization was 
assuming a form which fitted it to seize the abandoned scepter of 
progress, and marshal the world on in the career of advancement. 

But the virtues do not flourish beneath the shadow of power. 
The stern dignity of the Roman character was tarnished by the 
prevalence of luxury : Lust of dominion bound Patriotism to its 
chariot, and dragged it in chains behind the triumphal car. The 
power of a new and holy religion then proclaimed to the world, 
failed to arrest the decay and infuse fresh life into the decrepit 
frame of Roman civilization. 

But when Roman virtue faded, no successor occupied the field 
ready to seize the abandoned scepter of progress. The Barbarians 
who issued from the Northern wilds might overturn, the tottering 
empire, but they could substitute nothing better in its stead. They 
destroyed the decaying temple of Roman grandeur, and used its 
materials, to rear rude structures on its site with barbarian hands. 
The civilization of Modern Europe is Roman civilization, modified 



THE MISSION OP THE UNITED STATES. 99 

by Christianity and the rude customs of warlike barbarians, and 
developed in the course of ages into its present form. This civili- 
zation has, in turn, become effete. The structures of Power erected 
upon it are tottering and clashing in convulsions which betoken 
their fall. 

Judging from the analogies of the past, the effete Roman civili- 
zation of Europe is about to fall into ruins. Will it continue under 
new modifications ? or will it give place to a higher form of social 
and governmental life ? Russia is aiming to sweep it away, and 
replace it with a despotism. She would succeed were not a power 
in the field ready to supersede effete institutions with the noblest 
system of government. The contest is approaching, which is to 
decide whether Europe is to be Cossack or American. The analo- 
gies of the past pronounce us victor in that contest : no effete sys- 
tem of government has ever been restored to vigor through an 
infusion of new life, when a higher order of government was in 
existence and ready to take its place. 

A new Power has risen to seize the scepter of empire, and the 
voice of the Past announces that it is about to plant the standard of 
Higher Progress upon the ruins of European Monarchy and Medi- 
eval Tradition. As the Babylonian despotism sunk before the 
march of the free Persians : as the Persian empire fell before the 
assault of Greece under the lead of the martial chief of the free 
Macedonians : the Macedonian kingdoms before the onset of Re- 
publican Rome : the Roman Empire before the free Barbarians of 
the North ; so must the tottering thrones of Europe fall before the 
rising Power, bearing the standard of Liberty, inscribed with the 
rights of man. 

The mystic voices of the past hail us with no inauspicious omen, 

" King that shall be hereafter f" 



THE WORLD'S 

CRISIS 

BOOK I. 



\ 



PROPOSITION I. 



The Government of the United States has, throughout almost 
its entire career, maintained a system of administration in violation 
of the fundamental principles of the Constitution: — With the 
effect upon HOME AFFAIRS of tarnishing the National Honor ; 
dwarfing our Industrial Prosperity ; warping our Social Life ; 

and plunging the country into Frightful Political Evils. 

(101) 



BOOK I. 

EVILS INFLICTED UPON OUR COUNTRY BY OUR 
VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 



The stormy character of our political career, and, latterly, the 
prevalence of political corruption must strike every student of 
American history. 

The observer of our social life cannot fail to remark the decay of 
republican simplicity of manners, coupled with a social excitement 
unparalleled in the annals of the world. 

Monarchist statesmen have inveighed against these irregularities 
as the spawn of Republicanism : Philosophers more favorable to our 
institutions would charitably account them the wild offshoots of a 
too rapid growth. But neither the genius of Republicanism, nor 
prosperity, however great, is responsible for these evils. They are 
the spawn of political pruriency. Radicalism, stealing with Tarquin 
step to its design, has debauched our Government, and engendered 
a misbegotten brood of Shame, and Vice, and Crime. 

The insults which shamed our flag during the early period of our 
national career, and the social demoralization and political troubles 
which mark our later history, may all be traced directly to violations 
of the Constitution. A strict adherence to the principles of that 
instrument, would have induced a healthy development, combining 
simplicity of manners and social tranquillity with a grand, steady 
and permanent prosperity, free alike from foreign insult and domes- 
tic vicissitude. The abnormal development we behold is the conse- 
quence of the action of a government wrested from its constitu- 
tional moorings. 

(103) 



104 the world's crisis. 

The evils which have afflicted our country are divided, in the 
order of time, into two eras : 

1st. The evils arising out of the Carrying Trade, staining our 
early history with dishonor, and ending only with the disasters of 
the War of 1812. 

2d. The evils arising out of the American System, dwarfing our 
industrial development, corrupting our social and political life, and 
ending only in the calamitous Civil War from which we are just 
emerging. 

The subject will be presented under these natural divisions. 



PART I. 

EVILS OF THE CARRYING TRADE. 
CHAPTER I. 

THE EEA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 

Adherence to the principles of our Constitution would have 
caused us to avoid all the evils which beset our early, as well as our 
later history. But, almost cotemporaneously with our national 
birth, an evil fate precipitated the government into an unconstitu- 
tional course of administration. 

Two antagonistic Theories of constitutional construction arose 
immediately upon the inauguration of the Federal government. 
These Rival Theories, advocated by successive political parties, 
have ever since been wrestling for the mastery. The fierce politi- 
cal contests which have rendered the history of America one long 
turmoil, took their rise in the ceaseless antagonism of these conflict- 
ing systems of constitutional interpretation. 

As we have seen, the Constitution was a compromise of opposing 
views in the Convention. Its adoption only transferred the conflict 
between the advocates of these conflicting views from the hall of the 
Convention to the arena of the nation. 

Two rival parties arose under the administration of Wash- 
ington. 

In the Convention, the advocates of State rights thought that the 
Constitution established a government so powerful as to endanger 
the reserved rights of the states. But they gave their adhesion to 
it as much preferable to the weakness, the adverse interests, and, 
perchance, the military antagonism of separate nationalities. When 
the instrument had been adopted by the states, the State-Rights 
party accepted it in good faith, adhering to its letter, and its spirit. 

(105) 



106 the world's crisis. 

They cheerfully acquiesced in the assumption by the Federal gov- 
ernment of all the powers vested in it by the Constitution ; but they 
were disposed to resist to the uttermost any attempt of the govern- 
ment to exercise powers beyond the limits of its constitutional juris- 
diction. 

It had been well for the country, had the advocates of a strong 
central government in the Convention accepted the Constitution, 
with its careful limitations of Federal power, in equal good faith. 
Had they been willing to acquiesce in the simple literal meaning of 
the instrument, taken in the sense designed by its framers, America 
would never have been a prey to political agitation and the num- 
berless evils of our past career. But, unfortunately, they con- 
temned the Constitution as organizing a government too feeble to 
sustain itself, and too narrow in its range of powers to foster do- 
mestic interests. They had accepted it, not cordially, but as the 
best instrument the prejudices of their opponents would concede. 
They now resolved to bestow upon the government, by construction, 
those powers, which the Convention that framed the Constitution 
had refused to confer. 

Alexander Hamilton was the leader of this party. He had been 
a member of the Convention ; but he had retired from the body in 
disgust weeks before its labors terminated. He was now resolved 
to amend the Constitution at will, by subjecting its articles to a 
construction so broad as to make it confer upon the government any 
powers he deemed it necessary to exercise. Thus the government 
might free itself from obnoxious limitations, and placing its own in- 
terpretation upon the charter of its powers, extend its functions as 
expediency or ambition might dictate. 

Many who believed with Hamilton that powers more extensive 
should have been conferred, yet shrank from his scheme of con- 
struction, as enabling the Federal Government to usurp authority 
without limit or control. They had wished the Convention to con- 
fer powers more enlarged ; but now, dreading unlimited usurpation, 
they contended for a strict construction as the only security against 
unbridled ^autocracy. When Hamilton broached his scheme of con- 
structive powers, all these, under the lead of Madison, separated 
from his party, and united themselves with the advocates of state's 



THE ERA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 107 

rights in endeavoring to restrict the Federal government to the 
exercise of those powers only, which the Constitution actually con- 
ferred. 

Thus, at the very outset of the government, the country became 
divided into two opposing parties. In strict nomenclature, these 
parties should have been styled, the one, Latitudinarian Construc- 
tionists, the other, Strict Constructionists. But political parties 
rarely assume a cognomen which designates their principles. The 
former assumed the title of Federalists ; the latter styled them- 
selves Republicans. The political strife then inaugurated has ever 
since distracted the country. Since that age the struggle has as- 
sumed various phases ; issues have changed ; parties have fallen, 
and risen again, with new names, to renew their ceaseless struggle 
under new banners; but, in every era, the Constitution has been 
the bone of contention, — the party of Latitudinarian Construction 
struggling for power with the party maintaining a strict construc- 
tion of the Constitution. Whatever names they have assumed, the 
one party has been Latitudinarian Constructionists, the other Strict 
Constructionists. And violations of the Constitution by the Lat- 
itudinarian Constructionists, during the periods of their tempo- 
rary triumph, have gendered all the evils that have afflicted the 
country. 

Sect. I. — The Policy of the Federalists. 

In the mind of Hamilton the stability of the government was the 
first object to be secured. Every other consideration must yield 
to this. He believed Republicanism, at best, a weak system of gov- 
ernment, to which only the best and surest safeguards can give 
stability. A close and practical observer of human nature, he 
placed little confidence in the power of mere sentiment. Observa- 
tion had taught him that the patriotism which springs from self- 
interest is the surest support of a government. In monarchical 
countries, government is pillared upon the attachment of privileged 
orders, whose privileges depend upon its stability. As the gew- 
gaws of rank and title had no place in Republican America, Ham- 
ilton proposed to secure the stability of the Federal government, by 



108 the world's crisis. 

attaching to it powerful property classes with the solid ties of in- 
terest. He never paused to inquire whether the measures he pro- 
posed were constitutional. He consulted expediency only. The 
declaration of the preamble, that the instrument was designed to 
promote the public welfare, was the only clause in the Constitution 
which he regarded. In his view whatever would promote the pub- 
lic welfare was constitutional. The formula which satisfied his 
scruples was similar to that which has become fashionable at a later 
period : " The Government must live : to this end it must concili- 
ate the attachment of wealth and influence : if the Constitution does 
not suffer it to adopt a policy that will secure this end, the life of 
the Government is superior to the Constitution, and that instrument 
must give place to the necessity of self-preservation." 

He saw, as he believed, grave dangers arising to menace the 
stability of the government. His comprehensive and statesmanlike 
intellect grasped every point of the situation, and conceived the 
measures necessary to avert the dangers he apprehended, and im- 
part to the government the requisite stability and strength. Thus 
satisfied that his measures were expedient for the general welfare, 
he gave no further thought to the question of their constitution- 
ality. 

A brief retrospect will show the dangers he apprehended, and 
display the sagacity of the statesman who grappled them with a 
boldness, which, whatever our opinion of his principles, must chal- 
lenge our admiration. 

The climate and productions of the Southern states gave them an 
immense advantage over those of the North. Their products con- 
stituted almost the entire exports of the country. Their tobacco, 
rice, and indigo found ready sale in the markets of Europe, and 
cotton now began to be exported. But Europe afforded no market 
for cereals and live stock, the only products of the North. During 
the Colonial era, the West Indies had afforded a limited market for 
rum, live stock, and vegetables ; but Independence had cut off this 
only market, and, at the inauguration of the government, the trade 
of the Northern states languished in absolute stagnation. 

The advantages of the Southern colonies had caused them to 
outstrip those of the North during the Colonial era. Though all 



THE ERA OP FEDERALIST RULE. 109 

except Virginia of more recent planting, and, at first, of slower 
growth, yet, in 1790, their population was almost equal to that of 
the Northern states. If the two sections should continue to grow 
in the same ratio, the South would soon be the stronger. The 
apprehension that the South might in a few years attain entire 
control of the government, the North sinking into a provincial con- 
dition, caused much hesitancy in the latter section in adopting the 
Constitution, unless such advantages were secured to their industry 
as would enable them to maintain an equality in the Union. 

The comprehensive mind of the astute statesman who was about 
to give direction to the policy of Federal government grasped this 
state of affairs. He beheld in it grave cause of alarm. The coun- 
try was already divided by sectional lines ; and it had been dis- 
turbed by sectional jealousy even during the War of Independence. 
Should the South attain the decided predominance which its greater 
prosperity rendered probable, Hamilton might fear that the North 
would be impelled by jealousy to separate from the Union. He 
resolved to avert the danger by giving to Northern industry such 
advantages as would maintain the equilibrium, and attach that sec- 
tion to the Federal government by the ties of gratitude and interest. 

With an eye to this end, the great statesman sought to place him- 
self in a position that would enable him to mould the policy of the 
government. The unbounded confidence of Washington permitted 
him to select his position in the cabinet. As Secretary of the 
Treasury he had jurisdiction of the entire internal policy of the in- 
fant Republic. 

It needed not his influence to secure the passage of a tariff law 
giving incidental protection to American manufactures, and a nav- 
igation act for the protection of the shipping interest. These were 
carried with the support of Madison. But these measures, in the 
existing state of affairs, afforded scarcely any special advantage to 
Northern interests. Manufactures were in their infancy; the ship- 
ping of Virginia rivaled that of New England: while the North was 
crippled for want of capital, there seemed a probability that the 
proceeds of Southern exportations might be invested in these new 
channels of enterprise, and give that prosperous section the same 
superiority in manufactures and shipping as in agriculture. 



110 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

The pressing want of the North was capital. While the labor of 
the South was profitably directed toward agricultural staples which 
found ready sale in the markets of the world, only so much industry 
was diverted from these products as was necessary to produce ar- 
ticles of prime necessity. If the North were supplied with the 
necessary capital, it might, while the South was occupied with agri- 
culture, engross the manufactures and the shipping interest of the 
country. It possessed every requisite for success in these pursuits 
except capital. It had no market for its agricultural produce ; in 
dustry was stagnant for want of necessary capital to engage in 
profitable enterprise: the two prime requisites — labor and pro- 
visions — the North possessed in abundance. It was the aim of the 
Secretary of the Treasury to furnish it capital, to embark with energy 
in commerce, which the fostering care of government rendered so 
profitable an investment. 

A legitimate means of partially accomplishing his object was ob- 
vious. The Federal government was bound in honor to pay, at some 
fair rate, the revolutionary debt. The armies had been stationed, 
for the most part, in the Northern states during the war, and the 
debt was in the hands of Northern capitalists. Its assumption by 
the government would give the North a capital of fifty million dol- 
lars, yielding an annual income of three millions from the Federal 
treasury. Hamilton challenged the gratitude and admiration of the 
Eastern and Middle states, by his earnest and influential advocacy 
of assumption ; and he sought to make the capital available, by having 
the bonds issued in a form negotiable in the European market. — But 
returns from this source would be slow. Money could not be promptly 
realized from the bonds of an infant republic ; and the three millions 
of annual interest was not sufficient to advance Northern interests 
so rapidly as was desirable. The North needed a large and avail- 
able ready capital. To effect this object Hamilton brought forward 
a plan for a United States Bank. 

An attempt had been made in the convention to invest the Fed- 
eral government with power to incorporate chartered institutions, 
but the power had been denied. The Bank was clearly unconstitu- 
tional. No clause in the Constitution could be strained to bestow 



THE MISSION OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill 

this power upon the government. But the North needed money, and 
the government only could furnish it. The Secretary of the Treas- 
ury deemed this a fit occasion for a latitudinarian construction of the 
Constitution. The loan of money based upon public credit and cre- 
ated for their express benefit would attach large property classes in 
the Middle and Eastern states to the government by the strongest 
ties of interest : it would enable the North to embark, at once, in 
profitable enterprises, and rival or outstrip the growth of the South, — 
thus averting the threatened danger of Southern predominance, and 
Northern secession. The measure seemed expedient in every point 
of view ; it promised to promote the general welfare, — a main design 
of the establishment of the government : and even if power to char- 
ter a Bank was not granted in the Constitution, the safety of the 
government is superior to the instrument on which it is based ! the 
Constitution must not be suffered to become a barrier to the well- 
being of the country ! 

Hamilton maintained that the government has the right to per- 
form all acts which tend to promote the general welfare, without 
looking further for a grant of constitutional authority. Expediency 
was the only limit he recognized to its powers. He was inclined to 
contemn limitations which restricted the government within a sphere 
too narrow for his imperial temper, and did not scruple to call the 
Constitution " a thing of naught which must be changed." With 
the temper of a monarchist, he deemed gradual augmentations of 
power a justifiable art of State craft ; and, conscious of the author- 
ity of precedent, he knew that a power once exercised is soon con- 
ceded as a right. He embarked upon his policy of centralization 
without scruple, and with consummate craft and boldness. 

The Bank project encountered the most strenuous opposition. 
Madison, and many others were unwilling to blot out all the limita- 
tions of federal power by a sweeping system of latitudinarian 
construction, which perverted the Constitution from the safeguard 
of liberty into an instrument of usurpation. They took issue 
with Hamilton in opposition to the measure. But the Bank favored 
too many interests to be defeated. Its location at Philadelphia, 
securing to her merchants large prospective loans, conciliated the 
great State of Pennsylvania : the shipping interests of New En- 



112 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

gland influenced the vote of that section. Constitutional limitations 
were insufficient to withstand the dictates of self-interest. The 
Bank charter was carried through Congress, by the votes of the 
Eastern and Middle states. 

When the Bank charter was presented for his approval, Wash- 
ington found his position one of peculiar delicacy and embarrass- 
ment. To assist him in his decision, he asked the opinions of his 
cabinet ministers. Their counter opinions — the Northern members, 
Hamilton and Knox, favoring the measure, the Southern, Jefferson 
and Randolph, opposing it — increased his irresolution. He hesi- 
tated long, wavering between opposing views. He even asked 
Madison to prepare a veto message. His vacillation proves that, 
upon the abstract constitutional question, he would have refused his 
sanction. But personal and political considerations combined to 
sway his mind in the opposite direction. Jefferson and Randolph 
were from his own state : Hamilton and Knox were his companions 
in arms. Himself a citizen of a Southern state, his veto would ap- 
pear the result of sectional prejudice : magnanimity, — always the 
strongest impulse of that great soul, prompted Washington to con- 
sider favorably a measure designed to relieve the severe distress of 
the North. Moreover, the Federal government was as yet only an 
experiment, which a gust of sectional anger might overturn : the 
measure would attach the North warmly to the government, and to 
his administration : its rejection might subject him to the imputa- 
tion of narrow views, sacrificing Northern interests to his sectional 
feelings, and might precipitate the crisis which it was Hamilton's 
aim to avert. The perpetuity or the disruption of the Union seemed 
to hang upon his decision. In such a crisis the bill seemed neces- 
sary " to promote the general welfare ;" and, after long hesitation, 
Washington signed it, and it became a law. 

Here was the first false step of the government, which, in its 
issues, proved the fruitful source of all our subsequent calamities. 
The United States Bank changed the entire course of national in- 
dustry and development. It brought about a present good : but we 
sacrificed to it our normal destiny. It was the apple " pleasant to 
the eyes," for which we gave up our Eden of peace, virtue, tran- 
quillity, and sacrificed the progress which Nature designed for us, 



THE ERA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 113 

tranquil and void of excitement, but glorious beyond all we have 
attained, or even imagined. 

The charter of the United States Bank — our first violation of the 
Constitution — brought the influence of the Federal government 
•within the prohibited province of the internal interests of the coun- 
try. It diverted the industry of the country from the natural 
channel in which the laws of industrial development would have 
impelled it, and gave it an unfortunate direction, from which it never 
afterward recovered. The normal course of our national industry 
will be best considered in a future chapter. We confine ourselves, 
here, to tracing the evils which flowed from the establishment of the 
Bank. As we proceed, it will appear that the charter of the United 
States Bank was the Pandora's box whence issued all our calamities. 

The influence of the Bank was instantly felt by the industry of 
the North. The Southern states, having already a large capital 
invested in profitable agriculture, left the Bank accommodations to 
be engrossed by Northern enterprise. The Bank capital was freely 
loaned, and instantly infused new activity into the warehouses and 
dockyards of the North. Having no other field for enterprise, the 
North, having command at last of capital, turned its entire atten- 
tion to commerce. Ships were built with Bank loans, and soon re- 
paid the cost of construction with the enormous profits derived from 
the navigation laws. Again bank loans and navigation profits were 
invested in new vessels ; and in a few years, through the impulse 
of bank capital and the protection of navigation laws, the growing 
marine of the North became more than adequate to the carrying 
trade of the country. 

The influx of government capital quickened Northern industry 
in every nerve. Labor was diverted from profitless agriculture to 
profitable enterprise. The control of the shipping interest carried 
with it the control of the mercantile interests of the country. 
Northern ships naturally brought their cargoes to Northern ports ; 
and, while the South was engrossed with agriculture, Northern en- 
terprise monopolized the entire commerce and shipping of the 
country. Northern agriculture also felt the impulse : the numbers 
diverted to commercial enterprise freed it from the stagnation inci- 
8 



114 

dent to excessive production, and gave it a ready and profitable 
market in the increased consumption of the seaport towns. 

Hamilton's policy succeeded in averting the dangers threatening 
the Union from the approaching preponderance of the South ; and 
it strengthened the government with the interested devotion of the 
Middle and Eastern states. 

But his object was broader than this. He wished to identify the 
policy of the government with his Party, and to attach the Middle 
and Eastern states, with equal devotion to the Federal government 
and the Federalist party. He proposed to base his party upon the 
close union and firm support of those two sections, and govern the 
country by means of their votes. He might with justice hope that 
they would support with constancy the party whose policy origi- 
nated their prosperity, and was necessary to maintain it. 

The Strict Constructionists found their chief support in the 
Southern states. Southern interests, needing no patronage, united 
with reverence for the Constitution and zeal for State rights, to 
commit the South to the support of that party which aimed to re- 
strict the Federal government within the constitutional limits of its 
authority, and debar it from interference with the internal interests 
of the country. 

The leaders of this party beheld with concern the Middle and 
Eastern states leagued by interest in support of a policy subversive 
of the Constitution and dangerous to liberty. Self interest would 
cause them to maintain the policy it had impelled them to adopt : 
the leaders of the " Strict Constructionists" perceived that a direct 
issue upon the question of policy would result in the firm establish- 
ment of the Federalist party. Hamilton had planned his scheme 
of party domination with the skill of a consummate statesman. His 
antagonists prepared to counter him with skill and finesse equal to 
his own. 

Hamilton's scheme of power was admirably conceived, and but 
for the force of an element which he had not calculated would have 
infallibly proved successful. His system of administration compre- 
hended a double aim, — a means, and an end. It was the immediate 



THE ERA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 115 

aim of his measures to confer vast benefits upon the Middle and 
Eastern states ; his ultimate object, to transform the government 
into a Centralization based upon a moneyed aristocracy. He trusted 
that the immediate advantages derived from his system of adminis- 
tration would reconcile the people to its Anti-Republican tendency. 
He relied entirely upon interest, without estimating the force of 
sentiment. He trusted to the aid of the property classes, without 
taking into consideration the sentiments of the masses, who feel 
more than they reflect, and are swayed more by impulse than cal- 
culation. 

In resting his party upon the support of the wealthy class, Ham- 
ilton was governed by prudent calculations based upon past expe- 
rience. During the Colonial era,, the American colonies had much 
of the aristocratic class distinctions which obtained in the Mother 
country. Men of wealth and high social position swayed the public 
sentiment of the Colonies. Even at the period of which we write, 
the property class continued to control the states by their influence. 
Hamilton seemed to consult the principles of sound policy, in choos- 
ing the support of the moneyed aristocracy as the foundation of his 
party. The Federalist party, founded upon the interested support of 
the Eastern and Middle states and the established influence of the 
aristocratic class, seemed stable beyond the possibility of overthrow. 

But an event now occurred, destined to exert the most important 
influence upon the political and industrial development of the 
United States : 

The French Revolution broke out simultaneously with the 
organization of the Federalist party, and disappointed all the calcu- 
lations of Hamilton. It everywhere fanned democratic sympathies 
into a flame. The reverence which prevailed in America for aristo- 
cratic position was changed into antagonism. Instead of bowing, as 
formerly, to the influence of superior social position, the masses were 
ready to assert democracy against rank, and oppose the pride of 
equality to the pride of aristocracy. Slow alike to comprehend the 
policy of Hamilton and the constitutional scruples of Jefferson, they 
had a keen perception of the gradations of rank, and were easily 
wounded by the purse-proud assumption of wealth. The mass of 



116 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

the American population, especially in the Middle states, were 
democratic in their tastes and warmly republican in their feelings, 
and were keenly jealous of the aristocratic sympathies and monar- 
chical tendencies of the Federalists. 

The leaders of the "Strict Constructionist" party seized this 
feature in the aspect of the age, and determined to array it against 
their opponents. The Federalists desired to lead the people into an 
Aristocratic Centralization, by conferring upon them unconstitu- 
tional benefits : it was their policy to enlarge upon the benefits de- 
rived from their system of administration, ignoring its aristocratic 
tendency. On the other hand, it was the policy of the Strict Con- 
structionists to denounce the ultimate aim of the Federalists, ignor- 
ing the practical benefits resulting to the North from their measures. 
By appealing to class feelings and republican sympathies, they 
hoped to gain the masses in the Middle states, and array that sec- 
tion against the party with whose policy its interests were identified. 
Their rally words were Democracy and Republicanism, against Aris- 
tocracy and Monarchical tendencies. The better to enforce the 
grand issues they chose to present, and inflame the passions they 
wished to enkindle, they fixed upon a name which embodied this dis- 
tinction, and styled themselves Republicans. 

The attitude of the parties toward each other, and their respective 
sympathies, necessarily made European politics a prominent feature 
of antagonism. The French Revolution had entirely changed the 
aspect of American politics. It wrested from the Federalists a vic- 
tory already won, and compelled them to dash down the chaplet of 
victory to harness them for doubtful conflict. They had expected 
to array the Eastern and Middle states against the South : it roused 
the masses in those sections against them. They expected puny 
assaults from opponents armed with abstractions : it confronted 
them with an angry democracy. They naturally resented the injury 
the French Revolution inflicted upon their cause : they saw in it the 
mob rule they dreaded at home : they hated it as an insurrection 
against established authority — the triumph of principles they 
deemed inimical to all government and tending to universal anar- 
chy. These views naturally led them to oppose the French Repub- 



THE ERA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 117 

lie, and sympathize with Great Britain in the wars raging in Europe. 
The Republicans, on the other hand, hailed the French Revolution 
as the Savior of America, and the Deliverer of Europe. Their 
enthusiasm was heightened by gratitude and admiration. In their 
eyes, it was the triumph of the People over long-established wrongs, 
the victory of Liberty over Oppression. They declared themselves 
the champions of French Republicanism against the armed despo- 
tisms of Europe, applauded its triumphs, excused its excesses, and 
palliated its crimes. 

The Republican leaders availed themselves with energy and skill 
of all the advantages of their position. They cast a vail over the 
measures of the Federalists so popular at the North. The funding 
system was complete : the Bank was established for twenty years : 
the Republicans declared these measures beyond the politics of the 
time, and pointed attention exclusively to the monarchical sympa- 
thies, and ulterior aims of the Federalists. They denounced them a3 
an aristocratic party, opposed to republicanism, every where; secret- 
ly aiming at monarchy at home, and in sympathy with despotism 
abroad. Their attachment to England was characterized as syco- 
phancy to our oppressor ; their hostility to France, as treason against 
Liberty, and black ingratitude toward our Revolutionary benefactor. 

The Federalists were obliged to meet the issues tendered by their 
antagonists, and in the march of the French Revolution, European 
politics, originally incidental, became a leading feature in the anta- 
gonism of the parties. 

The long, fierce contest of these parties, with its vicissitudes and 
changing fortunes, constitutes the first grand epic of our political 
history. A cursory sketch of its salient points is all our limits 
will allow. 

Sect. 2. Humiliations arising from tiie Policy of the Fed- 
eralists. 

The outbreak of the French Revolution exerted an influence upon 
the material progress of America, not less potent than upon the 
political condition of the country. The immense mass of French 
population withdrawn from agriculture and thrown into the armies, 



118 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

caused an immense demand for American breadstuff's, stimulating 
both our agricultural and shipping interests. The supremacy of 
Great Britain on the ocean cut France off from communication 
with her colonies ; and the French government, abandoning the 
colonial system which had hitherto been strictly maintained, threw 
open her colonial and home ports to the vessels of neutrals. The 
fortune of war which soon after subjected Holland to the arms of 
France opened the Dutch colonies, also, to the trade of neutrals. 
Spain also relaxed her colonial system ; and, in a few years, the 
course of events consigned the entire trade of her colonies, also, to 
neutral vessels. 

A narrow mind deeming money the chief good, may hold it fortu- 
nate for America that the financial policy of Hamilton had stimu- 
lated the naval enterprise of the North into such activity that 
American vessels were ready to engage in this lucrative Carrying 
Trade. But measured even by the pecuniary standard, this neutral 
Carrying Trade was unfortunate for the country; its uncertain and 
interrupted profits turned us aside from a career of steady, unin- 
terrupted, and enduring prosperity. — And then the measureless 
humiliation to which it subjected us! If wealth is purchased at a 
price too dear in the sacrifice of national honor and the deteriora- 
tion of national character, the financial policy which, by enabling 
the North to extemporize a great merchant navy, embarked the 
Eastern and Middle States in the neutral Carrying Trade, was a 
great national misfortune. We obtained commercial advantages, it 
is true ; but in acquiring them we became the football of the com- 
batants. They both despised us, while availing themselves of our 
neutral position ; and they mutually gave us such kicks, as wrest- 
lers might bestow upon a beggar who was groveling around their 
feet for the coins that dropped in their struggle. 

This accession of prosperity was dearly purchased by moral de- 
cadence, also. In the reckless fever of maritime speculation, the 
simplicity of manners that characterized the Colonial era was 
wholly lost. The thirst of sudden wealth seized the Northern mind, 
no longer patient of steady industry, and the prosperity attendant 
upon economy and patient application. New England was espe- 
cially engaged in this new branch of marine speculation ; the Mid- 



THE ERA OF FEDERALIST RULE. 119 

die states being more occupied with mercantile enterprise, and 
agricultural industry. It was the grand pursuit of New England, 
and its effects were chiefly visible upon the New England character. 
The character of the race was fused in the crucible of maritime 
speculation, and underwent a lasting and deleterious change. The 
stern, hardy Puritan pioneers would have failed to recognize their 
crafty and avaricious descendants. The New Englander became a 
speculator by natural bias. The wealthy embarked in the Colonial 
Carrying Trade where success was won by finesse and trickery ; 
those in humble circumstances, seized with the prevailing mania, 
became perambulating peddlers of " Yankee notions." Then were 
developed the peculiar characteristics, which, wherever the race 
is known, have generated the proverb, " As sharp as a Yankee." 
From being stern, unbending, upright, they became models of ad- 
dress, suppleness, and finesse. Even the stern enthusiasm of the 
Puritan character partook of the general deterioration, and assumed 
a modified form of fiery fanaticism, controlled and directed by the 
dictates of crafty policy. 

Ear better for America, had Bank loans never enabled American 
shippers to extemporize a merchant navy, the fruitful source of gain 
— and demoralization. Without the Bank, we should not have had a 
navy sufficient to engage in the Carrying Trade, until the course of 
events rendered it impracticable. Pursuing our career of normal 
industry, we should have escaped the complications and humiliations 
which characterize an era of our history, upon which no American 
can look back without a blush. 



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[Here, thirty-one pages of Manuscript (comprising a sketch of the 
foreign relations of the country, full of humiliations, from 1793 to 
1800) are omitted, as not essential to the design of the work.] 

The political revolution of 1800 which ejected the Latitudinarian 
Constructionists from power, is a proper epoch at which to pause a 
moment and note the fruits of their policy. At this point of Amer- 



120 

ican history, we find the following " counts," in the indictment against 
the unconstitutional Centralization policy. 

1. It laid the foundation of its power in public corruption, de- 
bauching the national mind into violations of compact, by bribes 
offered to interest. 

2. It convulsed the country with party strife. 

3. It gendered political trickery, causing the presentation of false 
issues, vailing Truth at the shrine of Expediency. 

4. It fostered sectional interests, and embittered sectional strife, — 
which would otherwise have remained dormant, and sunk into oblivion. 

5. It compromised the national dignity, making the Federalists 
and Republicans, respectively, the subservient partizans of England 
and France. 

6. It diverted us from a career of steady prosperity which would 
have maintained our tranquillity, fostered our virtues, and conserved 
our honor, and plunged us headlong into the Carrying Trade, — a 
vortex of reckless, exciting speculation, that engulfed them all. 

7. Through the agency of the Carrying Trade : 

a: It subjected us to ceaseless humiliations at the hands of the 
European belligerents : 

b : It brought upon us the contempt of mankind : 

c: It debased the national character, teaching us to submit to 
humiliations with patience which at first had fired our blood with in- 
dignation : 

d: In the absorbing pursuit of gain, it rendered us oblivious of 
honor, heedless of insult, and regardless of our plighted faith. 

No American can look back upon that period without shame. The 
Carrying Trade demoralized us. We were ready to endure ail things, 
so the Trade were not taken away. We entered upon it full of be- 
coming national pride, taking fire at insult, from whatever quarter it 
came. But this pride soon forsook us, and the roar of indignation 
sunk into the whine of the peddler robbed of his wares. Nor is it 
strange that such causes produced national degeneracy. Humiliation 
debases the character as rapidly as vice, — and we were steeped in 
humiliation to the lips. We were the ally of France by revolution- 
ary treaties, and had conceded to her the sole right to enter our 



THE ERA OF REPUBLICAN RULE. 121 

harbors with captured prizes, to the exclusion of her enemies. En- 
gland heaped indignity upon us : instead of resenting it, we agreed to 
violate our treaty with France, exclude her vessels with prizes, and 
admit those of England alone ! — so that we might be allowed to 
prosecute the Carrying Trade ! France, in turn, trampled upon us : 
we sent an embassy to solicit a treaty ! It was spurned out of the 
country: we sent another! — and agreed to pocket all past wrongs ! — 
and violate our treaty with England, and allow French prizes to 
enter our ports ! so that we might but prosecute the Carrying Trade ! 
Thus we shuffled between the combatants, making outcry as a cuff 
was received from one, and a kick from the other ; begging dis- 
honorable treaties with both, and keeping faith with neither ; but 
always with a keen eye to the main chance, industriously engaged 
in the Carrying Trade ! 

Pah ! the deeds of that time smell to heaven, and even yet taint 
our reputation with mankind. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ERA OF REPUBLICAN RULE. 

The policy of Centralization was overthrown in the election of 
Jefferson, but the consequences of the policy remained when the 
party which had maintained it had fallen. 

The policy of Centralization left the nation a legacy of insult 
and humiliation to be borne, more galling than any yet received. 

The peace of Amiens gave a respite to Europe from war, and to 
America from insult. But the tocsin was soon heard again ; and its 
sound was the signal for a renewal of contemptuous assaults upon 
our rights, and our honor. 



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[Another hiatus of nineteen manuscript pages, sketching the 
course of aggressions, growing out of the Carrying Trade, which 
issued in the War of 1812.] 



122 the world's crisis. 

The War of 1812 was necessary to vindicate our rights and 
assert our honor. The excessive insolence of the British govern- 
ment passed the measure of patience ; the impudence of its negotia- 
tions surpassed, if possible, the insulting arrogance of its acts. 
Had the pacification of Europe found us still tamely enduring out- 
rage and contumely, we had been branded with dishonor forever. 

Still, it was a sad necessity which drove us to make common cause 
with Napoleon, at the very moment when he crossed the Russian 
frontier, to overthrow the last barrier to universal dominion. It 
was the last curse of Hamilton's system. 

The War of 1812 was the legacy, which the Bank, expiring the 
year before, bequeathed to the country. In a domestic point of 
view, the war was the greatest evil the country had ever suffered, 
It destroyed the wealth which had been accumulated in the Carry- 
ing Trade ; it paralyzed commerce ; prostrated industry ; and left 
the government overwhelmed with debt, and bankrupt in credit. 

In 1815, the system inaugurated by Hamilton had run its course ; 
and it left the country in a worse condition than it found it. We 
were deeper in debt than in 1791, when the Bank was chartered; 
credit was as prostrate ; bankruptcy was as general ; commerce and 
industry were at as low an ebb. The system of interference with 
the internal interests of the country by the Federal government 
had run its career. It had violated the Constitution, to force a 
hectic prosperity; — the short lived prosperity was dead. It had 
trampled down limitations of power, to foster accumulation of 
wealth ; — the wealth had vanished. It had disregarded the institu- 
tions of the country to foster commerce; — commerce was ruined. 
Nothing remained of the fruits of Hamilton's system but a few 
hulks rotting in our harbors — Yes, the opprobrium it had brought 
upon us, hardly effaced by all the blood of the war, still lingered on 
our garments ! and it had planted the seed of Centralization, and 
covered it in the ruin wrought by war, where it germinated as in a 
congenial soil, and overshadowed the country with a new and more 
baneful growth of Federal usurpation. 

We have now traced the history of causation through which the 
financial system of 1791 led the country into the humiliations and 



THE ERA OF REPUBLICAN RULE. 123 

short-lived profits of the Carrying Trade, ending in the ruin of the 
War with England. It will be the work of a future chapter to trace 
the operation of natural causes, broken by the intervention of the 
Federal government in the internal development of the country, and 
mark the unbroken career of prosperity on which they would have 
borne us. We look not to that now. But leaving this out of view, 
no one will deny that even the most moderate degree of prosperity 
would have been preferable to the career on which Hamilton's sys- 
tem launched us. No one w r ho traces the history of the country 
from the inauguration of the Federal government down to 1815 
will maintain that our abnormal career of factious politics and ex- 
cited speculation, with its concomitants of reverse and opprobrium, 
and its denouement in war, and industrial and financial ruin, is 
preferable to a normal career of steady, uninterrupted development. 
Far better had the industry of the country been left to the in- 
fluence of natural laws, without the interference of government. 
Then our people, escaping the demoralizing vicissitudes of specula- 
tion, would have remained tranquil and virtuous : no party banners 
would have waved over the Republic : no complications with Euro- 
pean affairs would have induced alternate breaches of faith toward 
both belligerents, and brought upon us a series of humiliations 
dearly purchased by the gains of traffic, and expiated by the ruin 
of a war which swept all the fruits of toil and humiliation away. — 
Instead we should have been content with our own commerce : 
British jealousy would not have imposed restrictions upon our inter- 
course with foreign countries in violation of national law : our own 
mariners would have sufficed for our commerce, without tempting 
British sailors with high bounties to engage in our merchant service, 
thus inducing impressment in violation of our flag. A steady pros- 
perity would have illustrated our progress ; and with a spotless 
fame, resources conserved, and energies unwasted, we should have 
entered the course when quiet was restored in Europe, ready to 
bear away the palm of industrial prosperity from the war-worn na- 
tions of the Old World. 



124 



PART II. 

} 

EVILS OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 

The prosperity of the United States has been unprecedented, 
their growth and development, without example. In little more 
than three-fourths of a century, three millions of people have be- 
come the most powerful nation on the earth. 

We are apt to attribute this prosperity to the action of govern- 
ment, and to view it as proof of a wise system of administration. 
But it is really due to the energy of our people, and to our unpar- 
ralleled natural advantages. The intermeddling of the government 
w*th the industry of the country has retarded our growth. 

But for faults of administration, we should now be far in advance 
of our present position. We have grown with unprecedented rapid- 
ity; — but we have remained a satellite of the British industrial 
system, instead of ourselves becoming the center of the world's in- 
dustry. We might have engrossed to ourselves the unparalleled 
advantages nature has lavished upon us. But, instead, we have 
only reaped from them a secondary advantage, lavishing our re- 
sources upon England, — resources which have rendered that country 
the industrial center of the world. We might have become the 
great center of industry and wealth, and of moral and political in- 
fluence. This was the natural destiny of our country. We should 
have realized it under a constitutional administration of the govern- 
ment that left industry to the development of natural laws. Viola- 
tions of the Constitution have cheated us of our destiny, and made 
us the satellite of England, incapable of controlling the course of 
events ; — instead of the Central Luminary, round which all the na- 
tions would have revolved, swayed by our influence, governed by 
our example. 

Before noticing the evils wrought by the American System, let us 
(224) 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. Vlo 

mark the advantages Nature has bestowed upon us, and trace the 
career in which the force of irresistible causes would have directed 
our country. 



CHAPTER I. 

NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 

This subject will be best treated under the three grand depart- 
ments of national development, — Industrial, Social, and Political. 
We shall therefore discuss the subject of the chapter in respect of, 

1. Our Industrial Development; 

2. Our Social Life; 

3. Our Political Career. 

Sect. 1. — The Normal Industrial Development of the United 
States. 

The close attention of the reader is solicited to the course of 
reasoning presented in this Chapter, and especially in this Section; 
since the conclusions here elaborated become the basis of the course 
of thought presented in the subsequent part of the work. The train 
of thought is necessarily much condensed ; much is left to the sug- 
gestion of the thoughtful mind; but the attentive reader will have 
no difficulty in following out the train of reasoning, and reaching 
the conclusions to which it infallibly leads. 

In the discussion of our normal industrial career, Fancy will be 
discarded ; our conclusions will be sought under the stern guidance 
of Reason. We shall not trench upon the realm of fanciful specu- 
lation, but trace the laws of cause and effect to their necessary and 
inevitable results. The relations of mathematical principles are not 
more fixed and unalterable than the relations of cause and effect. 
The principles of Political Economy, — the laws which govern in- 
dustrial development, are as immutable as the first principles of 
Geometry. In reasoning upon industrial progress, deduction from 
cause to effect is susceptible of the same scientific accuracy as the 
demonstration of a geometrical problem. It is only necessary to 



126 the world's crisis. 

weigh accurately all the elements of a situation, and estimate the 
force of active causes, to arrive at a definite and correct conclusion. 
The cause being given, the effect may be positively known. 

The history of our industrial development is naturally divided into 
two eras. The first began in the financial system of Hamilton, 
which launched us upon the neutral Carrying Trade. The second 
had origin in the American System, which undertook, a second time, 
to cause a forced growth of national prosperity, derived especially 
from the protection of home manufactures. The first era began in 
1791, and extended to the peace of 1815. The commencement of 
the second may be dated in 1816, extending down to the present 
time. 

It will be necessary, in tracing the normal development of our 
national industry, to mark, 

1st, The causes in operation at the foundation of our government, 
which would have given direction to the national industry, had not 
their influence been destroyed by the intervention of the Federal 
government; and 

2nd, The causes in operation in 1815, at the close of our War with 
England, ready to give direction to the national industry, when the 
intervention of the Federal government frustrated their influence. 

In both these periods, the state of the country presented all the 
conditions necessary to promote a steady, uninterrupted prosperity. 
And in both periods, the unconstitutional interference of the Fed- 
eral government in the internal affairs of the country changed the 
face of the situation, and rendered a career of normal prosperity 
impossible. 

Let us mark the circumstances of the situation in both these eras, 
and trace the necessary operation of existing causes, in giving di- 
rection to our industrial development. 

I. The Normal Industrial Career of the United States at the Inaugu- 
ration of the Government. 

It is the true destiny of the United States to become the manu- 
facturer for the world. We ought, now, to be far advanced upon 
our career of industrial grandeur. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 

There are four conditions essential to the highest manufacturing 
success : — 

1. An energetic and enterprising population, having adaptation 
to mechanical occupations ; 

2. An adequate motive power for driving machinery ; 

3. An abundant home supply of raw material; 

4. An abundant home supply of provisions for the operatives 
engaged in manufacturing and auxiliary branches of industry. 

These are conditions imposed by nature, essential to the highest 
manufacturing prosperity. Where all exist in the same country, 
the seal of nature has stamped that country as the destined manu- 
facturer for the world. And though ignorance and governmental 
incompetence and folly may divert the country for a time from its 
normal career, its natural destiny will, sooner or later, be accom- 
plished. 

Of these conditions, the first may be termed fundamental. There 
can be no manufacturing success, without a population, energetic, 
enterprising, and having a mechanical adaptation. Such a popula- 
tion sometimes enables a country to triumph over all natural ob- 
stacles, and achieve high success in manufactures, without a home 
supply of either raw material, or provisions for operatives. Thus 
England, though importing raw material and provisions from all the 
world, has, by dint of the energy and mechanical adaptation of her 
people, attained great success in manufactures. This success, how- 
ever, is owing to the fact that Great Britain has never vet been 
brought into active competition with a country having superior nat- 
ural advantages. Other things equal, that country would be placed 
at great disadvantage in competing with a rival having a population 
equally ingenious and energetic, equal facilities for motive power, 
and an unlimited home supply of provisions and raw material. 

The United States possesses all these advantages in an eminent 
degree. Our people are unsurpassed in energy, enterprise, and 
mechanical ingenuity ; our rushing streams and immense coal-fields 
supply unrivaled facilities for driving machinery ; we have an abun- 
dant home supply of provisions ; and our capacity for the produc- 
tion of raw material for every kind of manufacture is unlimited. 
Our country possesses in an unrivaled degree the prime essentials 



128 the world's crisis. 

of manufacturing success. Nature has stamped it the great world- 
manufacturing site. 

The causes were in operation at the inauguration of the Federal 
government which, if the government had not interfered, would 
have turned the energy of the country into the channel of manufac- 
tures. 

Many obstacles had prevented the development of manufacturing 
industry, prior to that period. During the Colonial era, England 
had prohibited manufactures in the Colonies, that they might afford 
a better market for the manufactures of the mother country. Since 
the War of Independence, the want of comity between the states 
had prevented the development of manufactures in the Eastern and 
Middle states. Each state had the right, under the Articles of 
Confederation, to impose duties upon the commodities imported from 
the others. This prevented any attempt in the Northern sections 
of the country to manufacture for the South; and, domestic manu- 
factures being general, there was no home market in those sections 
to foster manufactures upon an extensive scale. 

But the adoption of the Constitution changed all this. The whole 
country was by it opened to home manufactures free of duty, while 
a revenue tariff afforded important incidental protection against 
foreign competition. The obstacles which had before prevented the 
development of manufacturing industry, were now removed. 

Furthermore: the industrial condition of the country must have 
soon turned enterprise toward manufactures, as the only field open 
to it. Let us note the elements of the situation. 

Abroad, the French Revolution was brewing, — soon to plunge 
Europe into a bloody war, and interrupt with British cruisers and 
blockades our communication with foreign nations. At home, the 
South was occupied in growing products for the foreign market, 
leaving commerce and manufactures to the Eastern and Middle 
states. The marine of the country was not yet adequate to the 
wants of our commerce. Until our tonnage was equal to the na- 
tional freight, the impulse of the navigation laws would cause the 
profits of commerce to be invested in more ships. Before that maxi- 
mum was reached, the repressive regulations of Great Britain would 
have deterred us from embarking in the neutral Carrying Trade. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 129 

Where could the profits of commerce then be invested? Not in 
more ships, — our tonnage being already sufficient for our wants. 
Not in agriculture, — that business being already overcrowded, and 
throwing redundant products upon a glutted market. Manufactures 
would be the only investment for capital. In the general stagna- 
tion of industry, they would be developed, as a matter of simple 
necessity. 

Circumstances like these have always proved the cradle of Industry. 
Industrial greatness has always had hardy birth in circumstances of 
adversity and depression. The poor fishermen who peopled the Syrian 
coast, having no recourse but the sea, under the impulse of neces- 
sity worked cheaper than their wealthier neighbors ; and thus 
engrossed the traffic of adjacent regions, and laid the foundation of 
the commercial greatness of Phoenicia. The fugitives who fled for 
refuge from the sword of Atilla to the rocky islands at the head of 
the Adriatic, in their exceeding poverty, developed an enterprise, 
and a resolute, persevering, and cheap industry, which gave birth to 
the wealth and power of Venice. In our own era, the poor 
peasants of Lancashire, far removed from the highway of British 
commerce, devoting themselves to labors of the spindle and the 
loom, laid the foundation of the manufacturing and commercial 
greatness of England. So in our poverty, would our enterprising 
population have turned of necessity to manufactures, as the only 
opening in the general stagnation of business. 

Industry is a hardy plant, which germinates best in a sterile soil. 
Like the Alpine oak which takes hardy root and towers in grandeur 
upon rocky crags where tempests beat fiercest, Industry only grows 
to greatness when rooted in necessity, and nurtured in the bleak 
air of competition. The greenhouse is for exotics only; — the hardy 
plant rooted in its native soil needs but the sun and tempests of its 
natal air to further its growth. 

We were then importing manufactures from England ; the ques- 
tion must soon have suggested itself to our enterprising men in 
search of investments for capital that could no longer be embarked 
in shipping, whether we could not manufacture more cheaply for 
ourselves, — a question which must have been answered in the affir- 
mative. 



130 the world's crisis. 

At that time the spinning of yarn by machinery was perfected, 
but the old handloom was still the only method of weaving. The 
expense of machinery, therefore, was not very great. The compe- 
tition between the English and American manufacturer resolved it- 
self into a question of cheap production. 

A competition in manufacturing between two countries having 
equally energetic populations resolves itself into a question of 

1. Cheap raw material; 

2. Cheap food; 

3. Cheap labor ; 

4. Cheap motive power. 

In other words, the country will bear away the palm which can 
maintain the lowest scale of prices. 

The conditions upon which a low scale of prices in manufacturing 
depends, may be divided into two classes. In the first place, it 
depends greatly upon the natural advantages of the respective 
countries ; and secondly, upon their relative adventitious condition. 

The natural advantages of a country for cheap manufactures 
consist, as already mentioned, in a home supply of raw material ; 
and a home supply of provisions. It is needless to argue the fact 
that, other things equal, the country which has an abundant home 
supply of provisions and raw material will have both at cheaper 
rates than a country which imports them. 

But these natural advantages are not decisive. They may be 
neutralized by other conditions. An inflated currency, an exorbi- 
tant tariff, heavy taxation, and the excess of demand over supply, 
may so inflate prices in a country which produces its own raw 
material and provisions, as to make both higher than in another 
country which imports them. These adventitious circumstances 
may neutralize all the natural advantages of a country for manufac- 
turing, however great. 

Therefore, besides the home production of raw material and pro- 
visions, a cheap standard of prices is dependent upon the following 
conditions : — 

1. A specie currency ; 

2. A low tariff, allowing of cheap importations ; 

3. Light taxes : 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 

4. Low prices are further promoted by an excess of supply over 
demand. 

We shall not pause here to prove the fact that these conditions 
are essential to low prices ; since the subject is treated at large in 
subsequent parts of this work. 

In every one of these particulars the United States had the ad- 
vantage of Great Britain. 

1. We had a home supply of raw material ; — while England was in 
great measure dependant upon foreign importations. 

2. We had a home supply of provisions ; — while in England the 
price was raised by transportation from abroad, and duties in the 
home ports. 

3. We had a specie currency ; — while, during the war with France, 
the currency of Great Britain was redundant, and depreciated fifty 
per cent. 

4. We had a low tariff, graduated at a revenue scale ; — while the 
English tariff raised the price of all foreign importations — bread- 
stuffs and raw material, as well as other articles of consumption — 
up to the general scale of inflated war prices then prevailing. 

5. We had very light taxes, indeed no taxes at all except the 
tariff duties; — while in England the most oppressive war taxes pre- 
vailed, and so adjusted, as to be peculiarly onerous upon manufac- 
turing interests. 

6. In the United States, prices were further reduced by the 
scarcity of money, and the excessive supply of provisions, raw ma- 
terial, and labor, above the demand ; — while in England, prices were 
inflated by the redundant currency, and by the centralization of 
industry, even then begun. 

In the face of these multiplied disadvantages, the British manu- 
facturer would have found it impossible to compete with American 
manufactures. It needed only to turn our attention to manufac- 
turing industry, and we should have outstripped England without 
difficulty. At that period, we possessed the elements of cheap pro- 
duction in a greater degree than any country in Christendom. We 
had a specie currency, and the circulating medium was very scarce. 
The specie value of labor, and of all commodities, was extremely 
low. In no country in Christendom did a dollar represent so much 



132 the world's crisis. 

value in labor and the products of agriculture. We possessed in 
the highest degree the three conditions of manufacturing success, — 
cheap raw material, cheap provisions, and cheap labor. 

The raw material of the American manufacturer would be cheaper 
than in England : it was of native production; and the producer had 
the advantage of the English, in paying no rent to a landlord ; no 
taxes to government ; and in producing at prices graduated at the 
specie standard : he could, therefore, afford to sell at the low prices 
incident to an excess of supply over demand. 

The same causes rendered provisions much cheaper in America 
than in England. 

Indeed, as England was then the chief foreign market, the Amer- 
ican price of raw material and provisions was the same as that of 
England, less the cost of transportation, the profits of commerce, 
and British duties. Upon an average, the cost of raw material and 
provisions in England was at least fifty per cent, greater than in 
America. 

This fact would have proved decisive in a competition between 
the two countries, even if English employers starved their opera- 
tives in the attempt to reduce the price of labor to the American 
standard. 

American enterprise would not have been long in perceiving these 
advantages ; and the general stagnation of industry, where capital, 
labor, and agricultural products were all seeking a market, would 
soon have embarked the Middle states in manufactures. Once 
begun, our manufactures would easily have outstripped British com- 
petition. We should not long have lacked either capital, or skilled 
labor. The English manufacturer, under the impulse of competi- 
tion, would reduce wages to the starvation limit ; and American 
bounties would cause an exodus of starving British operatives. 
Those children of toil would gladly remove to a country where, 
though wages were no higher than at home, the necessaries of 
life were so cheap that industry was rewarded with plenty. Many 
British capitalists, in turn, would fly from war taxes, and war prices 
for raw material, provisions, and freight, to a country where they 
might manufacture free from the burden of taxation at a cost com- 
mensurate with specie prices for labor and raw material. Blessed 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 

with peace, abundance, and a metallic currency, the United States, 
while the Old World was exhausting itself with war, would have em- 
barked actively in a course of industry that would, ere long, have 
made it the manufacturer of the world. 

In competition with England, we should at least have been able to 
supply our own demand for woolens ; and we should, soon, have en- 
grossed altogether the cotton manufacture; for, under the most fa- 
vorable circumstances, the enhanced price of cotton in the English 
market, taxation, and the higher price of provisions, would force the 
British manufacturer to desist from competition. But the cotton 
manufacture is the most important branch of industry — almost equal 
in value to all other manufactures combined; and the exclusive pos- 
session of it would have made us the great commercial agent of the 
world. 

In such a career, the progress of the country would have been ever 
onward. The fluctuations inseparable from a paper currency would 
have been unknown. Political changes could not have interrupted 
a prosperity founded, not on government patronage, but upon the 
steady laws of industry. The return of peace in Europe would 
have found us far advanced upon the path of greatness, and no sub- 
sequent events could have driven back the swelling tide of our 
prosperity. 

This is not idle speculation. The laws of cause and eifect may 
be traced to their inevitable results. And here the chain of causa- 
tion is unbroken, and without a flaw. 

Every other channel than manufactures would be closed to enter- 
prise. Before we were ready to engage in the Carrying Trade, 
British repressive regulations would have excluded us from that field. 
British blockades and "orders in council" would have cut off our 
breadstuffs from the European market. Our foreign commerce 
would have been repressed by the incidents of European war. Cut 
off, in great measure, from foreign intercourse, the development of 
our internal resources would have proved a necessity. 

While foreign events thus tended to force us upon a career of 
manufacturing industry, they conduced to render manufactures more 
profitable. Breadstuffs, cut off from a foreign market as contraband 



134 the world's crisis. 

of war, would be offered in abundance, and at the lowest prices: 
labor, out of employment, could be obtained in abundance, at wages 
merely sufficient for subsistence. Furthermore, a specie currency, 
a low tariff, and light taxes, would all conduce to sink the cost of 
manufacturing much below the English standard, inflated by a de- 
preciated and redundant currency, a high tariff upon raw material 
and manufactures, and a most oppressive system of taxation. 

Cut off from every other channel of enterprise, and with such 
unprecedented advantages over foreign competition in manufactures, 
it is not difficult to see that our astute capitalists would have per- 
ceived, and seized upon this splendid opening for investment. And 
once begun, manufactures would soon have infused new vigor into 
every branch of industry; and gradually exceeding the demand for 
home consumption, by the time peace was restored in Europe, they 
would have been in a condition to take possession of the markets of 
the world. 

But Hamilton's financial policy precluded at a stroke the possibility 
of this career. The conditions essential to manufactures were the 
low prices and steady gains incident to a specie currency. The 
establishment of the United States Bank flooded the Middle states with 
paper issues, and inflated labor and productions to a price inconsist- 
ent with manufacturing enterprise. It developed the marine of the 
country in an excessive degree, and plunged us into the Carrying 
Trade as a means of transient prosperity. Indeed, the Carrying 
Trade was the only business which, in the inflation of prices, would 
yield a profit. That active traffic caused a brisk demand for labor 
and agricultural products, and contributed still further to the infla- 
tion of prices incident to a paper medium. Neither were any longer 
cheap. The material conditions essential to successful manufactures 
were no longer present. Nor was the mind of our people any 
longer in a condition to prompt them to engage in a steady, safe 
pursuit, rewarding diligence with certain, though moderate gains. 
That career of reckless enterprise produced in the public mind a 
fevered restlessness dissatisfied with safe and moderate returns, 
and fostered a general spirit of speculation intent upon pursuits 
involving great risks and large profits. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 135 

From the moment the Carrying Trade was begun — indeed from 
the moment the United States Bank was chartered, manufacturing 
industry became impossible. An exotic system of manufactures 
was fostered by our retaliatory legislation against European in- 
dustry; but they were of hot-bed growth, and unable to endure ex- 
posure in the keen air of competition. 

Hamilton's short-sighted policy, sacrificing principle to immediate 
advantage, cast away the crown European events were even then 
fitting upon our brows. 

II. The Normal Industrial Career of the United States, after the Peace 

of 1815. 

Upon the return of peace in 1815, we were again in a condition 
to accomplish our normal destiny of industrial grandeur. 

The industry of the country, it is true, was prostrate. We did 
not possess one vigorous branch of enterprise ; all were alike broken 
down and paralyzed. But though broken down, we were still abreast 
of the war-worn nations of Europe. 

If the short-lived prosperity of Hamilton's system was past, we 
were also rid of its evils. The charter of the United States Bank 
had expired in 1811, and Congress had refused to renew its charter; 
in 1815, the state banks were all broken except a few in New En- 
gland. We were again upon a specie basis, with only $15,000,000 
of specie in the country. In this, we possessed the first requisite 
to the low prices essential to manufacturing success. 

The return of peace also cut us off, in great measure, from foreign 
commerce ; and the state of affairs was forcing us to engage in a 
course of self-sufficient industry. The European colonial system 
was again vigorously put in force, excluding our ships from all 
traffic with the colonies of European nations. Our traffic with 
Europe also was very limited : the continental demand for bread- 
stuffs had ceased with the war ; and the corn laws of England ex- 
cluded our breadstuffs from her markets. 

Indeed, we were in the same condition, as in 1791: except South- 
ern products, rice, cotton and tobacco, the world afforded no market 
for any of our productions. Depression of industry was again felt 
in the Eastern and Middle states, and bore with extreme severity 



136 the world's crisis. 

upon the West, which had since been added to the country. Labor 
and food were abundant; and they were both exceedingly cheap, 
owing to the want of demand and the scarcity of specie, the only 
reliable circulating medium. 

Once more the state of the country presented the necessary con- 
ditions of manufacturing success. Natural causes were again about 
to embark the country in a career of manufacturing industry. 

But, on this occasion, the West would have become the seat of 
manufactures. 

In tracing the causes forcing us upon a career of manufacturing 
industry, it is, in the first place, necessary to mark the influence 
the state of the country would have exerted upon the direction of 
emigrating population. 

1st. Emigration directed toward the South. 

It will be remembered that, in the last decade of the Eighteenth 
Century, the Southern states, busily engaged in prosperous planting 
enterprise, left the Eastern and Middle states to monopolize the 
mercantile and shipping interests of the country. These branches 
of enterprise, together with the uncertain and interrupted profits 
of the Carrying Trade, had busied the population of those sections, 
and attracted to them all the immigration to the country. The 
Southern states, engaged in agriculture and suffering from the 
paper blockade system proclaimed by the European belligerents, 
had not offered such attractions to the immigrating population. 
These causes, together with a large emigration to the West, chiefly 
from Virginia and Maryland, had enabled the New England and 
Middle states to surpass the South in the growth of population. 

Upon the return of peace in 1815, the industry of the Southern 
states began to react from the depression caused by the European 
wars. The foreign market again offered an unlimited demand for 
their products. But the mercantile and shipping interests of the 
country, which the Eastern and Middle states retained, counterbal- 
anced the prosperity of the South derived from agriculture, and 
held the balance even between those sections. 

But the West was prostrate. Its fertile soil and salubrious cli- 
mate had attracted a large immigration from the seaboard states, 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 137 

and now its people were almost without a market. The Alleghanies 
presented an impassable barrier to the transportation of breadstuffs 
to the seaboard ; the lower Mississippi afforded as yet no adequate 
market for its productions. Stagnation was universal. In the ab- 
sence of specie, a depreciated currency was the only medium of 
exchange ; and even in this currency, the price of labor and pro- 
visions was extremely low. 

Virginia and Maryland are the hive whence energetic populations 
have swarmed, to people new states. Their healthy climate is fa- 
vorable to the growth of population, which their soil, exhausted 
with long culture of tobacco, cannot support. From them had 
issued the greater part of the emigration that peopled Kentucky, 
Missouri, and the territories north of the Ohio. The same causes 
were still inducing a large annual emigration from those states. 
Thousands were annually forsaking worn out lands, to seek new 
homes, where a virgin soil yielded ample returns to labor. 

In 1815, two sections — the West, and the Southwest — were 
rival competitors for immigration. 

Whither would the Virginia and Maryland planters go ? 
The answer to this question was pregnant w T ith consequences to 
the industrial, social, and political future of the country. 

The West invited them to raise cereals and live stock, for which 
there was no market; — the Southwest invited them to its inex- 
haustible deltas, to grow cotton for an unlimited market at high 
prices and specie payment. The climate of the West was more 
attractive; but an enterprising population is influenced more by 
the prosperity of a country, than by climate. The West offered 
only stagnation, without present prospect of change ;— the South- 
west presented an inviting prospect of unbounded prosperity. 
What would be the result ? The emigrating farming population of 
Maryland and Virginia abandoning worn out lands, to remove with 
their servants to a new country, Avould cease to flow to the West, 
and turn to the Southwest, to grow cotton for the English market. 
Southern emigration would soon become the rage. A stream of 
emigrants from the West would soon join the tide flowing from the 
seaboard to the South, carrying their servants with them from an 
unprofitable, to a profitable field of labor. 



138 the world's crisis. 

This emigration to the South would exert the most important in- 
fluence upon the development of the country. We at present 
notice those consequences, only, which pertain to our industrial de- 
velopment, leaving future sections to trace its influence upon the 
social life, and the political career of the country. 

The first effect of this Southern emigration would be an over- 
supply of the cotton market. The exclusive direction of labor to 
the production of cotton would soon overdo the English cotton 
trade, then just rising into importance. — This would lead to a divis- 
ion of labor. The Southern planter, no longer having a demand 
for all the cotton he could raise, would grow his own breadstuff's 
and raise his own live stock, producing, as an extra crop, merely 
cotton enough to supply the English demand. — This diversion of 
Southern industry from the exclusive production of cotton would 
exert a most important influence upon the social life of the country. 
But waiving this, for the present, we turn our attention to its influ- 
ence upon the West. — It is evident that the loss of the Southern 
market would cause total stagnation of Western industry. Let us 
now trace the effect of Western stagnation in impelling that section 
to become the seat of the world's manufactures. 

2nd. The Influence of general Stagnation in forcing the West to 
engage in Manufactures. 

Let us return to the state of the country in 1815. 

The Southern States were busied in planting for a foreign 
market. — The monopoly of the mercantile and shipping interests 
prevented a stagnation of industry in the Eastern and Middle 
States; the demand of the seaboard cities, and the occasional 
limited demand for breadstuff's abroad, afforded a market for their 
agricultural products, — so that, though languishing, their agricul- 
ture was not paralyzed. — But the West was suffering extremely. 
Almost entirely without a market for its productions, universal 
stagnation prevailed. There was no market for its products upon 
the seaboard, — even if they could be transported over the barrier 
of the Alleghanies. The demand in the South was too limited to 
relieve the stagnation. — Many Western slaveholders emigrated to 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 

the South ; many remained, unable to sell their own products, or to 
buy the products and importations of the other sections. 

When, through emigration to the South, that section, raising its 
own supplies, no longer afforded a market for Western produce, 
manufactures would, of necessity, spring up in the West. 

The Western farmer could not purchase the importations of the 
Eastern merchant, when he could not sell his produce in exchange. 
Under such conditions, continued importations from the East would 
soon end in bankruptcy, — it being a fixed law of trade that no 
country can import more than it can pay for by an exchange of its 
own products. 

The West having no market in any other section, could not im- 
port from any other section. It would be under the necessity of 
supplying all its own wants. 

The first step would be the establishment of domestic manufac- 
tures in every family. Homespun goods would be universally 
worn ; and craftsmen belonging to the various mechanical trades 
would supply the simple wants of the people, receiving the products 
of the country in exchange. In a similar condition of industry the 
English manufactures had an humble beginning, and afterward ex- 
panded to their present proportions. 

Though the West could not purchase goods from the East, owing 
to a want of market in the East for its productions, yet it is obvious 
that the manufacturer whose establishment was located in the West 
affording a home market for western produce, would find ready and 
ample sale for his goods. The advantage of machinery over hand 
labor would readily be perceived, and manufactories on a large scale 
would spring up over the country. Want of capital would impose 
no barrier. Nothing is so prompt as capital in seeking profitable 
points of investment. And, at that period, Western manufactures 
would have proved the most profitable investment in the world. 

The West then possessed in the highest degree the conditions of 
manufacturing success. Money was scarce, and the standard of 
prices was very low. Labor and provisions were abundant, and 
cheaper than any where else in Christendom. Raw material for 
manufactures — wool and leather — might be produced in greater 
abundance, and at less cost, than in any other region of the earth. 



140 the world's crisis. 

Besides, it lay adjacent to the finest cotton-field in the world, and 
the raw material could be purchased delivered at the Western mill, at 
the price paid by the British manufacturer in the American port. — 
At that juncture, manufactures in the West would be attended with 
less cost than at any other point whatever. On the other hand, the 
price of manufactured articles would be higher there than any where 
else in America. The Alleghanies would afford Nature's protection 
to the infant manufactures of the West, more effective than any 
government tariff. The slow and difficult wagon transportation of 
goods from the seaboard, would so increase the cost of importations, 
as to enable the Western manufacturer to hold his goods at a price 
much higher than that prevailing in the Atlantic states. 

With such advantages of cheap production and a home market at 
high prices, Western manufactures would not long languish for want 
of capital. The want of capital would check the growth of manu- 
factures, until population had adjusted itself, as we have mentioned, 
by emigration to the Southwest. But though this cause might re- 
tard, it could not thwart the natural destiny of the West. Capital- 
ists would readily enter into copartnerships with skilled operatives, 
to enable them to attach machinery to their establishments ; follow- 
ing the example of England, where practical craftsmen had been 
enabled to enlarge their business, by the use of machinery pur- 
chased with borrowed, or partnership capital. Once begun, the 
growth of manufactures would be expedited by the influx of capi- 
talists, mechanics, and manufacturers, from abroad, attracted by the 
advantages of the site, and the profitable home market for Western 
manufactured goods. 

Western manufactures would continue to increase under the stim- 
ulus of cheap production and high prices for goods, until the West- 
ern demand was supplied. 

Then the manufactures of the West would enter upon the second 
stage of their development. Up to this point, manufacturing for a 
home demand, the protection of the Alleghanies would shut out 
British competition. But when the Western demand was supplied, 
an attempt to manufacture for the other sections would at once 
bring them into competition with British goods. Could they engage 
in that competition successfully ? 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES, 141 

This question presents itself under two aspects. — (1.) The ability 
of Western manufactures to compete with English goods in our own 
markets, under the incidental protection of a revenue tariff; (2.) 
Their ability to compete with them in the markets of the world. 
Waiving the consideration of the first question as unnecessary, we 
propose to show that American manufactures located in the West, 
would have been able to compete successfully with those of Great 
Britain in the markets of the world, and supersede them by their 
greater cheapness. 

3d. Vast superiority of the West over Great Britain as a Site for 
Manufactures. 

It may be proper to remark that, at the period of which we speak, 
the manufactures of Great Britain had not attained the overshadow- 
ing supremacy of later years. England had not then centralized 
the industry and commerce of the world, nor acquired the immense 
capital which now gives her such a decided advantage in compe- 
tition with the industry of other countries. England had just 
emerged from her long wars with France, burdened with debt, and 
with resources impaired and wasted. Her manufactures were in 
their infancy, — the power-loom having just been invented and put 
in operation. So far as resources were concerned, the competition 
would not have been so unequal. It would have been a competition, 
on equal terms, between two rivals, in which the competitor that 
could manufacture cheapest would bear away the prize. 

In one particular the rivals would stand upon an equality. In 
1820 Great Britain returned to a specie basis : both, therefore, 
would manufacture at prices fixed by a specie standard. But here 
the equality would end. In every other particular, the Western 
manufacturer would have most decidedly the advantage. 

As already seen, the cheapness of manufacture depends upon — 
(1), cheap power; (2), cheap raw material ; (3), cheap^ provisions ; 
and, (4), cheap labor. The country which can obtain these things 
cheapest will outstrip all competition. 

In each of these particulars the Western manufacturer would, then, 
have had the advantage of the English. 



142 the world's crisis. 

1. The Western Manufacturer had a cheaper 'Power' than the 
English. 

The manufacturing greatness of England is owing to its coal 
beds, which give boundless power for the driving of machinery. 
This has given England the advantage over every other country in 
Europe. But in the West, motive power might be obtained from 
the waters of the Western States. The falls of the Ohio, the Mis- 
sissippi, the Tennessee, the Cumberland, and other streams, afford 
unlimited water power, at points where the mills might be situated 
upon navigable streams, with every facility for receiving raw mate- 
rial, and shipping manufactured goods. 

And where steam power was preferred, coal for running the 
machinery might be had at cheaper rates than in the manufacturing 
towns of England. Immense coal beds intersect the Western coun- 
try; and mines may, at many points, be opened immediately upon 
the banks of navigable streams, where, without any expense for 
transportation, the coal may be loaded in boats. Then the mills, 
for the convenience of receiving fuel, raw material, and provisions, 
and of shipping manufactured goods, might be located immediately 
upon the bank of some Western river, where everything might be 
raised from boats, and lowered into them by machinery, without the 
expense of drayage. In such a location, the Western mill might 
obtain its fuel cheaper than the English. Other causes also, here- 
after to be mentioned — as cheapness of provisions and lower 
rate of labor, together with the absence of government taxation — 
would conduce to sink the price of Western fuel lower than the 
English. 

2. The Western Manufacturer had cheaper Raw Material. 

In respect to a supply of raw material, the West has the advan- 
tage over every other region in the world. Mills, there, would be 
situated in the heart of the continent, in the center of the finest 
agricultural region in the world ; while the Mississippi and its trib- 
utaries, veining the country in every direction with navigable 
streams, afford all the advantages of an inland sea. Manufactories 
located upon a navigable river of the West would, for all practical 
purposes, have the advantage of a location on the shores of the 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 

ocean : they might receive by water carriage raw material from 
every quarter of the region in which they were placed, at the very 
lowest rate of charges for transportation. The boundless prairies 
and plains of the West, all veined by navigable streams, would 
yield an unlimited supply of wool and leather; and the cotton of 
the South might be delivered at the mills almost as cheap as at an 
ocean port. 

The raw material of English manufactories was then, as now, in 
a great measure imported from abroad. While the Western manu- 
facturer obtained his raw material from the adjacent region, at a 
cost very little above the producer's price, the British manufacturer 
imported his from beyond the ocean, paying, in addition to the cost 
price of the Western manufacturer, commissions, brokerage, and 
freights from the foreign port to the factory. The difference in the 
cost of cotton would be especially disadvantageous to the English 
manufacturer. For a long series of years, the Liverpool price of 
cotton was three cents higher than in the American port ; so that 
cotton would cost the English manufacturer three cents a pound 
more than the Western manufacturer would pay for it, delivered at 
his mill. The English manufacturer would have to pay a similar 
advance over the Western price for his wool and hides. 

But even this does not show all the disadvantage of the English 
manufacturer in respect of raw material. The British government 
was then in the hands of the Tories, who raised the public revenues 
in a manner most disadvantageous to the manufacturing interest. 
It was the aim of the party to protect the farming interest at the 
expense of the other branches of industry ; and, notwithstanding 
the disadvantage under which the British manufacturer labored in 
importing his raw material from abroad, the government, to enable 
the British farmer to charge a higher price for his products, imposed 
duties upon all imported raw material that came in competition with 
native production. We shall be within the mark, if we estimate the 
cost of raw material to the English manufacturer, at thirty per cent, 
higher than its price at a manufactory located in the West. 

3. Provisions were cheaper in the West. 

At that period the British Parliament imposed high duties upon 



144 the world's crisis. 

imported provisions for the benefit of the English farmer. We may 
form some idea of the comparative cheapness of provisions in the 
West and in England, by noting the comparative burdens of the 
respective producers. 

The Western farmer owned his own land, and, for the most part, 
cultivated it with his own hands ; — the English farmer rented his 
land from the owner at an annual rent of from ten to thirty dollars 
per acre. The American farmer paid no government taxes ; — the 
English farmer paid taxes upon everything he consumed, — upon the 
window which lighted his house and the chimney that warmed it, 
upon the glass which filled the one and the coal consumed in the 
other. He paid taxes on everything upon which ingenuity could 
lay a tax, — taxes on all he bought and all he sold — taxes direct and 
indirect — taxes levied by duties, by excises, by imposts, by stamps 
— taxes upon his property — taxes upon his crops — state taxes — 
church taxes — parish taxes for the support of the poor. 

When the English farmer had paid fifteen dollars an acre rent to 
his landlord ; the tenth of his crop to the church ; twelve per cent, 
of his income for the support of the poor; and the taxes besides, 
levied by the state upon his property, his crops, his house, his busi- 
ness transactions, and everything he bought, and everything he 
sold, — he had very little left, after paying his laborers. The cost 
of transportation, and the profits of commerce, did not raise im- 
ported raw material and breadstuffs high enough. He needed a 
still higher price for his products, and induced government to se- 
cure it to him by a duty upon foreign products imported for the 
manufacturing and other business classes. 

Owing to the cost of transportation, the profits of commerce, and 
the duties in the British ports, provisions were seventy per cent, 
higher in England than in the West. 

4. Labor was cheaper in the West. 

Wages in England were reduced to the starvation limit. But the 
laborer had to live — and had to pay his taxes. And the employer 
was under the necessity of allowing him wages enough to pay 
his taxes, and to support life. So heavy were the poor man's 
taxes in England, then, and so high the cost of living, that a bare 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 

subsistence required higher wages than were then usual in the West, 
and sufficient to maintain the laborer in comfort. 

The taxes of England were very great ; and they were so adjusted 
as to bear with excessive severity upon the laboring population and 
the industrial class, while the landlord nobility who ruled the coun- 
try were in great measure exempted from the public burdens. 

Taxes were laid entirely upon consumption, excusing property, — 
a system that levies the public revenues almost exclusively upon 
the laboring class, compelling the mass of laboring poor to defray 
the expenses of government. The annual revenue of $275,000,000 
was levied chiefly upon productive industry; and taxes were so 
adjusted that $215,000,000 were paid principally by the laboring 
population. State taxation met the laborer on every hand. It was 
laid upon his food, and drink, and clothing — upon the window of his 
little chamber, and the hearth by which he sat. Then, besides the 
taxes for the support of the government, the laborer was compelled 
to pay his proportion toward the support of the Established Church, 
and the maintenance of the pauper population. 

This excessive taxation rendered it necessary to pay the English 
operative comparatively high wages in order to his mere sub- 
sistence. In 1830, the average rate of wages per man and woman 
was two dollars a week, or thirty-three cents a day. The only 
wonder is that, burdened as they were, the operative population 
could maintain life upon wages so low. But in the West wages 
were even lower than this, and with cheap food and no taxes the 
laboring population subsisted in comfort. In 1852, after the advance 
f of prices consequent upon the opening of the California mines, the 
average wages of the American operative were only three dollars a 
week. And this in New England, where the cost of provisions was 
enhanced by transportation from the West and the profits of specu- 
lation, and where clothing was enhanced by the general scale of 
high prices prevailing. In 1830, when prices were inflated by a 
paper currency and a high tariff on all importations, the rate of 
wages for men in the West ranged from thirty-seven to fifty cents 
a day. The average rate of male and female wages did not exceed 
thirty cents a day. And they subsisted in comfort. At the lower 
prices incident to a specie currency and a low tariff, Western opera- 
10 



146 

tives would have found those wages adequate to comfort ; and fhey 
might have subsisted upon them much more comfortably than the 
operatives of New England mills now do upon their present wages. 
Factories situated in the heart of an agricultural region have an 
advantage nothing can countervail. 

The English manufacturer would run his machinery with a more 
expensive motive power than the Western; his raw material would 
cost him thirty per cent, more; his provisions, seventy per cent, 
more ; his labor, ten per cent. more. How could he possibly manu- 
facture so cheaply as his Western competitor ? The average cost 
of manufacturing would be at least twenty per cent, more in Eng- 
land than in the West. 

But this is not all. We have not yet taken into consideration 
the personal taxation, and the individual expenses of the English 
manufacturer. All his expenses were increased by government 
taxation. His food was seventy per cent, higher than in the West; 
his liquors, his tobacco, and other articles of luxurious consump- 
tion were enhanced by government imposts from 100 to 300 per 
cent, over their cost in the West. He paid a direct government 
tax upon every business transaction. Then, besides his government 
taxes, the church rates and poor rates were assessed upon his in- 
come. The church tythes required one-tenth of his net profits; 
and the poor rates in 1834 averaged, throughout England, 12 per 
cent, of all net incomes. 

Contrast with this the condition of the. Western manufacturer, — 
absolutely free from direct taxation — clothing and provisions cheap — 
exempt from church and poor rates — and paying only the slight 
advance upon imported luxuries levied by a low tariff. 

The excessive taxation levied upon the English manufacturer, to- 
gether with the greater expense of living, would compel him to 
exact a higher rate of profits upon his business than the American 
would need. — Then we must consider that, besides this taxation and 
increased cost of living, the cost of investments was much greater 
in England than in the W.est. Under the circumstances, even if 
the cost of manufacturing were the same in both countries, the 
English manufacturer would require at least thirty per cent, more 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 

profit upon his business, to equalize bis net returns with those of 
his Western competitor. 

Now then to sum up : The cost of manufacturing would have 
been twenty per cent, greater in England than in the West. Be- 
sides this, the English manufacturer would require, to meet his 
taxes, the greater expense of living, and the greater cost of invest- 
ments, thirty per cent, more clear profits than the Western. So 
that, to make the same net profit upon his business, the English 
manufacturer would have to sell his goods fifty per cent, higher 
than his Western competitor. 

Under such conditions, competition would have been impossible. 

But this does not display to its full extent the advantage of 
Western manufactures over English. The shipping of the goods to 
the markets of the world must be taken into account, as well as the 
manufacturing. In this particular, the scale would be more evenly 
balanced, but, on the whole, the advantage would lie with the West. 
The English factories were nearer the ocean, but had the disad- 
vantage of land transportation ; while the Western factories, sit- 
uated on the banks of the Western rivers, might lower the goods 
from the warehouse into a steamboat, to be taken down the Missis- 
sippi. Once reaching the Grulf, the American goods would be 
nearer the Central and South American markets ; and as near, for 
all practical purposes, the markets of Asia and the Mediterranean. 
The English exporter would have a decided advantage in respect of 
distance, only in supplying the Northern coasts of Europe. 

But excessive taxation, the great cost of living, and the high 
price of investments, would compel the English merchants and 
shippers to charge higher profits than the American would need. 
Taking the average of all the markets of the world, Western goods 
would reach the consumer burdened with fewer charges for trans- 
portation and mercantile profits than the English. 

With cheaper motive power, cheaper raw material, cheaper pro- 
visions, cheaper labor, and cheaper transportation, Western manu- 
factures would soon have, driven those of England from the markets 
of the world. These advantages would have proved decisive, 
^.gainst American manufactures located in the West, English fac- 



148 

tories could not have competed for a year. They must have yielded 
as we advanced, until we became the manufacturers of the world. 

The disadvantage under which Great Britain labored in having 
to import raw material and provisions for her manufactories, ought 
alone to have precluded her from a competition with a country 
which produced both in abundance. The further disadvantage of 
$4,000,000,000 of debt, entailing a heavy annual taxation, was suf- 
ficient to cripple her competition with a country oppressed by no 
such burden. But the insensate method in which the enormous 
public revenues were levied by the Tory government, grievously op- 
pressing manufacturing industry for the furtherance of their own 
class interests, ought, when superadded to the natural disadvantages 
of the country, to have crushed the manufactures of England in 
the presence of the active competition of a people, having equal 
energy, greater natural advantages, and exemption from public 
burdens. Nothing could have saved British manufacturers from 
overthrow at that period, but the injudicious intermeddling of the 
Federal government in the internal affairs of the country. 

Wresting manufacturing industry from England would have 
opened to us a grand career of commercial enterprise. The manu- 
facturing nation must, of necessity, be the commercial agent of 
mankind. It must receive the products of every country in ex- 
change for its goods ; and these, being transported to other coun- 
tries, form the basis of a new and ceaseless interchange. European 
nations might for a time endeavor to restrict our commerce, by ex- 
cluding our manufactures. But the cotton manufacture, the greatest 
of all, and almost equal to all others combined, would be beyond 
their reach; and the exclusive possession of this manufacture would 
alone give us the control of the commerce of the world. Moreover, 
our commerce, conducted upon just principles of free trade and fair 
and equal exchange, would be a benefit to all nations. The advan- 
tages it bestowed would be readily perceived ; and the exercise of 
the constitutional power of the Federal government, in so regulating 
our commerce as to retaliate upon any country its adverse legisla- 
tion, would soon have given it free course. We must soon have be- 
come the industrial center. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 149 

Such was the career which lay before us in 1815, if the govern- 
ment had left the industry of the country where the Constitution 
placed it, — to the development of natural laws. We should not 
have attained the height of our greatness at once: the first steps in 
the infancy of manufactures are taken with trepidation ; but once 
begun, no branch of industry progresses so rapidly, or yields such 
vast results. The country would ere this have been far advanced 
upon its career, — much more populous and powerful than now. 

See how England has advanced in wealth and population, since 
1815. England has more than quadrupled her wealth and com- 
merce since that era, chiefly through the manufacture of our pro- 
ducts. Fabrics manufactured from our cotton have, during almost 
the entire era, comprised nearly half her exports, and they have 
been the basis of quite three-fourths of her commerce. Our re- 
sources have given birth to a new commercial era. The profits of 
the era of manufactures have been divided between England and 
ourselves. Our portion has enriched us, but the greatest benefit 
has inured to England. If we have grown great in ministering to 
the commercial grandeur of Britain by the sale of provisions and 
raw material, what would be our position if we had manufactured 
our products ourselves, and realized not only the wealth we have 
reaped as our portion of the profits, but engrossed that, also, which 
wo have bestowed as a largess upon England ? 

Does any one question the fact that our unfettered industry would 
have sought the channel of manufactures ? Where is the flaw in 
the unbroken chain of causation that would have impelled us of 
necessity, step by step, to engage in manufactures, and continue to 
extend them, until we became the center of the world's commerce ? — 
Western stagnation, as its first effect, would have turned emigration 
toward the Southern states. This emigration would soon have 
oversupplied the cotton market. Then the Southern farmers must 
have grown all their own supplies, raising cotton only as an extra 
crop. This would have left the West absolutely without a market 
for its products. Unable to sell its own productions, equally unable 
to buy foreign importations, the West must, of necessity, have em- 
barked in manufactures, as the only opening for enterprise, and the 



150 

only means of securing a home market for agricultural produce, 
and a home supply of necessary articles of consumption. Once 
originated, manufactures would have been the most profitable busi- 
ness in the whole country ; both from the low cost of manufacture, 
and the high price of goods — they having exclusive possession of 
the Western market, through the difficulty and cost of importation 
across the Alleghanies. But the Western demand supplied, West- 
ern manufactures could not have stopped at that point. The grow- 
ing agriculture of the West, laboring under stagnation as soon as 
the manufactures which constituted its market Ceased to expand; 
the demand for foreign products for which manufactures were the 
only means of payment ; the natural expansive force of manufac- 
turing industry, seeking ever to widen the^ sphere of its opera- 
tions, — would all have forced the manufactures of the West to 
expand beyond the wants of their own section, and compete with 
British manufactures, first, in supplying the markets of our own, and, 
then, of foreign countries. The immense advantage of the West, in 
every respect, over English competition is sufficient voucher for its 
success in supplanting England and becoming the great manufac- 
turing site of the world. 

No one can examine the natural features of the great basin 
drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries, without being con- 
vinced that the West is the location formed by Nature to become 
the seat of the world's manufactures. Where else on the earth is 
there a grand river chain of navigable streams, constituting, in effect, 
a great inland sea, connecting a whole continent, and affording in 
their banks a natural quay for commerce ? Mark the various feat- 
ures which distinguish this region, peculiarly, as possessing in itself 
everything necessary to manufactures. There are the mill sites on 
the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Tennessee, the Cumber- 
land, — in a salubrious climate, on the banks of navigable streams 
where, without expense of drayage or land transportation, pro- 
visions and raw material may be brought into the warehouse, and the 
manufactured article lowered into boats, to be conveyed to foreign 
markets. There is the boundless water power ; and there the inex- 
haustible beds of coal, immediately upon the banks of navigable 
streams. There are the deltas along the Mississippi and its tributa- 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 151 

ries, capable of affording an inexhaustible supply of cotton ; and 
there the grand prairies and plains, to graze countless flocks and 
herds supplying raw material for manufactures of -wool and leather. 
There is the finest agricultural region on the earth, capable of afford- 
ing an unlimited supply of provisions to operatives engaged in the 
various departments of business auxiliary to a grand system of 
manufactures. — Nothing is wanting. The great region drained by 
the Mississippi and its tributaries affords every requisite to manu- 
factures on the grandest scale, — provisions, raw material, motive 
power, facilities for transportation. Nowhere else on the earth do 
we find such unapproachable natural advantages for manufacturing 
industry. 

Here is Nature's manufacturing site, — and the fiat of Nature and 
of Nature's God will yet be accomplished. The banks of the great 
rivers of the West will yet be gemmed with manufacturing villages, 
and become a great quay where the commerce incident to world- 
wide manufactures will be conducted. 

America can never attain the stature of full development until it 
becomes the manufacturer for mankind. It never can become a 
great manufacturing country until the West becomes the seat of 
manufactures. 

Whenever we abandon false principles of administration, and suf- 
fer our untrammeled industry to follow the guidance of Nature's 
laws, manufactures will find their home in the West, and our coun- 
try, though late, will attain the grandeur to which the lavish boun- 
ties of nature evidently designed it. 

We have now briefly sketched the line of causation which, first in 
1790, and afterward in 1815, would have impelled the country, by 
force of necessity, to become a great manufacturing nation. We 
might here trace the operation of the causes which marred our in- 
dustrial destiny. But this will be better reserved for another chap- 
ter, while we, in this connection, trace the normal destiny of the 
country, in its social and political aspects. 

Sect. 2. Normal Social State oe the United States. 
The social life of a country takes its form, in great measure, from 
its industrial development. 



152 

The three forming principles of the social life of a people are, 
their religion, their government, and their industry. The influence 
of these three principles must be combined, to induce a high degree 
of social advancement. Religion produces little effect upon a pop- 
ulation degraded by oppression and want. Nor can religion and 
elevated political institutions develop a high state of social progress, 
where the industrial condition of a people is unfavorable. Our own 
country is a striking example of this fact. The elevating influence 
of Christianity and Free government has been neutralized by an ab- 
normal industrial system. The social life of the country has been 
perverted by the evils attendant upon excessive wealth, on the one 
hand, and excessive poverty on the other. Social excitement has 
prevailed to an extent unknown elsewhere. Vice, and immorality, 
and looseness of religious belief are alarming characteristics of 
American society. 

We leave to a future chapter the task of tracing the effect of our 
abnormal industrial system in causing these forms of social evil. 
The present task before us is, to show the influence of our true in- 
dustrial system, acting jointly with religion and free institutions, in 
promoting the social advancement of our people. 

I. We should have escaped Social Excitement. 

Social excitement is the first characteristic of American society 
that strikes the observer. This is an offshoot of our industrial sys- 
tem. It has been generated by the universal spirit of speculation, 
the friction of city excitements, and the abuses of easily acquired 
wealth. In a normal course of industry, this social excitement 
could not have been fostered into activity. 

Under our true industrial system, each section would have sup- 
plied its own agricultural wants. The West would have found a 
market for its provisions and raw material in its own manufactories ; 
the East would have afforded an active market for the agricultural 
products of that section ; the South would have grown its own sup- 
plies, raising cotton as an extra crop. The only interchange be- 
tween the sections would have consisted in manufactured products, 
and, in one instance, raw material. The bulky products of agricul- 
ture would have found a home market. Production and consump- 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 153 

tion would have been brought into juxtaposition, and would not 
have required a multitude of transporters, all levying upon produce 
heavy profits. 

Under such circumstances speculation would have no place in the 
business of the country. Almost the entire population would be 
engaged in productive industry. Each section would find a market 
at home for its breadstuff's and live stock, and where the producer 
was so near the consumer, few persons need be engaged in the 
transfer. The village merchant who supplied the farmer's wants 
would purchase his products, in turn, and sell them to the grocer in 
the neighboring manufacturing town. The wants of 'the seaports 
and commercial towns would be supplied with equal facility by the 
adjacent country. — The supply trade of the several sections would 
have been conducted without speculation or excitement. 

The same would be true of the interchange between the different 
sections and the foreign commerce of the country. The true prin- 
ciples of commerce would obtain, — all bulky articles would find a 
ready market at home, and be withdrawn from commerce. Except 
the transfer of Southern cotton to the "Western mills, the inter- 
change between the sections would consist entirely of manufactured 
products and imported articles of luxurious consumption. And 
foreign commerce would comprise only our manufactured products 
in exchange for the industrial products of other countries. Com- 
merce would consist in staple articles, not liable to fluctuation in 
price, and consequently not open to speculation. 

The business of the country would have its regular channels, in 
which it would flow with methodical regularity. The cotton of the 
South, and the wool of the West would find their way directly to 
the factories, and thence to the seaboard. This would constitute 
the regular course of commerce. Methodical industry would be 
universal. Speculation could never have demoralized the public 
mind, and run the people mad with avarice and excitement. 

As we should have escaped the excitement and demoralization in- 
cident to speculation, so we should equally have avoided the excite- 
ments incident to great cities. We should probably have had few 
very large cities. Consulting economy of production, factories 
would be located immediately upon the banks of our rivers, for con- 



154 the world's crisis. 

venience of transportation. The Mississippi and its tributaries 
would now be one great quay dotted with manufacturing towns. A 
few interior cities would rise to conduct the exchange between the 
sections ; and with a few seaports, would suffice to carry on the com- 
merce of the country. New Orleans would at first have taken the ex- 
port trade. But Eastern enterprise would ere now have constructed 
ship canals from the Ohio and Upper Mississippi to the Hudson and 
the Chesapeake ; and steamers laden at the Western factory would 
bear their freight to the ocean, and frequently to foreign lands. 

Industrious mercantile cities do not necessarily foster excitement 
and corrupt the social life of a country. Social excitement and de- 
moralization are begotten, not of business activity, but of furious 
speculation, and the prodigal extravagance arising from wealth easily 
won and readily squandered. In our normal industrial career, 
steady business activity would have fostered the active mentality, 
and the healthy prosperity essential to social advancement. The 
highest national prosperity would have been conjoined with moderate 
individual profits. Industry, contentment, and tranquillity, would 
have illustrated our prosperous career. 

II. No Oppression of the Laboring Classes. 

In our normal industrial career, we should have escaped, not only 
the excessive social excitement consequent upon speculation and the 
abuse of wealth, but also the evils incident to the oppression of the 
laboring classes. 

Prices would have been equalized. "Wages, though low, would 
have been upon the same scale as all articles of consumption. The 
factories being in the heart of the agricultural region, the operative 
would obtain the necessaries of life so cheap, as to live in comfort, 
and lay aside a fund for future necessities. Laborers in sea-ports 
and mercantile towns and villages, obtaining an abundant supply of 
cheap food from the adjacent country, and finding all manufactured 
articles cheap, would derive from their wages a comfortable support. 
The entire operative population would be happy, cheerful, and con- 
tented. 

The farmer, every where, having a market at his door, would ob- 
tain prices commensurate with the standard rates for other articles. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 

Free from the oppression of speculators, who, to enhance their 
profits, reduce the prices of produce to the lowest limit, he would 
buy all articles of consumption at cheap rates, and obtain a fairer 
price for his surplus produce. Another advantage of the juxtapo- 
sition of the producer and consumer would be found in the fact that 
though the farmer obtained more for produce, it would cost the con- 
sumer less. 

The speculator, alone, would have found no occupation. He 
could not have oppressed the farmer, paying him an inadequate 
price for his produce, while compelling the distant consumer to pay 
an exorbitant price. This class of middle men, who add nothing 
to the productive wealth of the country, but prey upon industry, 
building up colossal fortunes for themselves, would have had no 
existence. Those who have engaged in this produce speculation 
must have invested their capital in some other occupation, that 
would have increased the productive industry and the actual wealth 
of the country. 

But our normal career of industry would have exerted a yet more 
powerful influence upon the South, in ameliorating the condition of 
the slave, and in finally putting an end to the institution of slavery. 

As w T e have seen, Western manufactures would at first have been 
slow in claiming the attention of the people; that section, mean- 
time, suifering from an absolute stagnation of industry, while the 
Southwest was flourishing with an unlimited demand for its cotton. 
This state of things, as we have seen, would induce an emigration 
of Virginia and Maryland planters to the South, instead of the 
West. This immigration would have supplied the cotton market, 
and prevented the rise of the slave traffic between the states ; for, 
immigration supplying the Southern demand for labor, the South 
would not have become a mart for slaves. 

This would have exerted a powerful influence on slavery in the 
border states. In Virginia and Maryland, slavery has not been 
profitable except in raising slaves for the Southern market. When 
the Southern labor demand was supplied by immigration, no negro 
traffic would have infused new life into Virginia slavery. Unable 
to support their negroes at home, and equally unable to sell, vast 



156 

numbers of planters from Virginia and Maryland must have emi- 
grated to the Southern cotton fields. The few slaves remaining in 
those states could not have influenced public sentiment, and they 
would have followed the example of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
in establishing a system of gradual* emancipation. 

The pressure of a still stronger necessity would have driven the 
slaveholders of Kentucky and Missouri to the South. In those 
states there was absolutely no market for the products of the farmer. 
The slaves were rather a burden than a profit. The impulse of self- 
interest would have swept their owners into the tide of Southern 
emigration, before the West became the seat of manufactures. 
There would have been an exodus of slavery from all the border 
states to the cotton-fields of the South. 

This emigration, as a first effect, would have afforded a great 
stimulus to the national prosperity, through the rapid development 
of the resources of the South. — But we leave this out of view, to 
consider its beneficent influence upon the condition of the slave. 
The character of the institution would have been much ameliorated. 
There would be no severance of family ties. And when the South- 
ern planter, turning his chief attention to the production of sup- 
plies, raised only cotton enough, as an extra crop, to supply the de- 
mand for the staple, the business of the plantation would proceed 
with the leisurely step characteristic of the border states. The 
servant would be cared for by his hereditary owner, surrounded 
with plenty, and never overtaxed with labor. The good feeling that 
once existed between the dependent and his superior, similar to that 
between the clansman and his chief, would have continued to ame- 
liorate the institution with mutual and kindly regard. 

Another effect : The value of the slave would have continued to 
diminish, until the institution terminated in general emancipation* 

The value of servants has been exaggerated by the great demand 
in the South for slave labor, and by their exclusive employment in 
the production of cotton. They were always scarce in the market ; 

* This inference is corroborated by the fact that, in 1832, when Virginia 
framed a new Constitution, a provision for gradual emancipation failed of 
adoption by only a few votes. The Southern slave traffic, which afterward so 
strengthened slavery in the border states, was then only just begun. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 157 

and their labor was turned exclusively to a most profitable culture. 
The want of slave labor increased the price of cotton ; and the high 
price of cotton combined, with the small number of slaves in the 
market, to increase the ruling price of negroes. The want of ne- 
groes in the cotton states exaggerated their value all over the South. 
But with the migration of negroes from the border states, the South- 
ern demand for slaves would cease, with a consequent decline 
in their market value. And the value of slaves would fall to a 
very low point indeed, when their labor, being greatly in excess of 
the wants of the cotton market, should be chiefly bestowed upon 
articles of home consumption. — This may be easily demonstrated. 
The slave whose labor produces eight bales of cotton per annum, 
when the article is worth fifty dollars per bale, has an annual value 
of four hundred dollars, less the amount required to provide for his 
wants ; — but when, owing to the over-supply of cotton, only two 
bales per annum to each " hand " can be sold, and that at half the 
price formerly realized, the annual value of the slave falls to fifty 
dollars, less the cost of his clothing and doctor's bills. His contin- 
ually diminishing value would eventually render the slave a burden 
to the owner. Chinese labor would be found more profitable. The 
negro would eventually have been colonized, — a happy, cheerful, 
civilized race, prepared to transplant to Africa our institutions and 
our civilization — and, without a convulsion, America would have be- 
come all free. 

Let us take a rapid but comprehensive view of the social state of 
the country, as it would have been developed under a normal indus- 
trial system. It would have been the most healthful and virtuous 
any nation ever enjoyed. 

The East would have been devoted to commerce. The immense 
foreign trade, distributed from Boston to the Chesapeake, would 
have afforded an active market for the products of the region east 
of the Alleghanies, and given life and energy to the prosperous- 
commercial cities springing up along our coast. 

The Great West, with its boundless area of fertile lands, would 
have been pastoral, agricultural, and manufacturing. Enterprise and 
capital would have been diffused over hamlet and village and town, 



158 

as the wants of industry required. Under such circumstances, 
manufactures would not prove the source of moral contamination 
they generally become, elsewhere. The operatives would be country 
youths, bringing with them the uncorrupted virtue of their country 
homes, and expecting to return, in a few years, with the savings of 
their industry, and establish themselves upon the cheap and fertile 
lands that invited settlement. The rural population would find 
comfortable subsistence in agriculture, and an unfailing opening for 
industry in* the mills. Agriculture would supply the factories 
with labor, and the factories, in turn, would build up agriculture 
with a host of frugal, industrious farmers. The cities, towns, and 
villages, dispersed over the country, full of business activity, would 
graft upon the virtuous simplicity of rural manners, cultivation and 
social refinement. These centers of social activity would present 
the country population an elevating example of intelligence, energy, 
and refinement, and be influenced, in turn, by the hardy, simple vir- 
tues of rural life. 

The South would have been dotted over with small plantations. 
The planters would have been modest farmers, superintending each 
his own culture, directing the industry of his patrimonial servants, 
and holding toward them the clannish relation of mutual sympathy 
and attachment which guardianship on the one hand, and rever- 
ence and dependence on the other, always inspire. Growing their 
own supplies, and free from debt, they would occupy that station 
of independence to which belong frugal happiness and generous 
liberality, equally removed from the extremes of avarice and ex- 
travagance. Amid a dense and cultivated population the wants of 
society would be met at home. The social circle, with its genial 
influences, would implant those graces of character which solitary 
life, on isolated plantations, surrounded by inferiors, is so little apt 
to inspire. The wealth and culture of the planters would render 
country life the social center of Southern society. Economy and 
content would confer a happiness wealth alone can never bestow. 
The home virtues would substitute the dissipation of fashion. A 
domestic, cultivated people would seek enjoyment, rather in social 
and intellectual pleasures, than in the flurry and heartless extrava- 
gance of fashionable life. 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 159 

The whole country would have been blessed with a social state of 
unexampled excellence. The healthful home virtues would have 
everywhere prevailed. The home influence would not have been 
lost. Home would not have become merely a place of business 
where money might be gained, to be spent in seeking pleasure 
abroad, — but, a place endeared to the heart, round which affection 
weaves its strongest ties. We should not have been an errant peo- 
ple, driven by business or allured by pleasure. There would have 
been no fever, no excitement, no speculation, — no rush, hurry, and 
turmoil, building up bloated fortunes, and engendering extravagant, 
reckless expenditure ; but, a healthy circulation, inducing industry 
and enterprise, and building all over the country thriving towns to 
become the centers of intelligence, activity, and social movement. 
There would have been less extravagance, fewer overgrown fortunes, 
and a more general diffusion of wealth. We should have exempli- 
fied enterprise without speculation, industry without avarice, hos- 
pitality without profusion, prosperity without extravagance, wealth 
without ostentation, contentment without indolence, economy with- 
out meanness, poverty without want. Such a condition Providence 
designed for the people who were intended to recommend Republi- 
canism to the world, by their industry, their prosperity, and their 
virtues. 

Sect. 3. The Normal Political Destiny of the United States. 
I. Political Agitations Avoided. 

It has already been shown that a States-rights republic, organized 
upon the model of ours, is calculated to maintain unbroken har- 
mony, — the federal and state governments moving quietly in their 
respective spheres without the possibility of coming into collision 
while mutually respecting the several limits of their respective pow- 
ers. In a normal course of industry nothing could have occurred 
to mar this harmony ; the course of events would have bound the 
country together with the indissoluble bonds of mutual sympathies 
and a common interest. 

The political excitements which long convulsed the country, and 
at length culminated in civil conflict, were engendered by three 
causes: — (1) The attempts of the Federal government to transcend 



160 the world's crisis. 

the limits of constitutional power and interfere with internal inter- 
ests caused the formation of political parties whose heated passions, 
inflamed by the magnitude of the issues at stake, distracted the 
country with factious struggles. — (2) The Federal government, in its 
interference with the internal interests of the country, fostered the in- 
terests of some sections at the expense of others, and thus excited 
sectional animosities. — (3) When sectional bitterness was once 
engendered, slavery became the issue which brought about a sec- 
tional collision, — slavery, stimulated into unnatural vigor, and filled 
with abuses, by the abnormal course of industry fostered by the 
unconstitutional interference pf the Federal government with the 
internal interests of the country. 

In every step the unconstitutional course of the Federal govern- 
ment has been the originating cause of political agitation. 

In our normal industrial career we should have had no political 
agitations. 

Under a constitutional administration of the government, no 
questions of policy could have arisen of sufficient importance to 
give rise to excited political parties. Mere questions of foreign 
policy could not have excited fierce and enduring passions. 

In our normal career of industry, no sectional agitations could 
have arisen. 

The slavery question could not have caused excitement, when no 
slave traffic existed between the states, and when, in the cotton states, 
the institution presented a mild and benevolent aspect. Seeing it 
fading from the border states, the non-slaveholding sentiment of the 
North would have left the institution to the operations of natural laws. 

The slavery agitation originated in sectional jealousy. But in a 
normal course of industry all sectional jealousies would have been 
allayed. Each section would then have been the complement of the 
others, dissimilar, yet essential to a harmonious whole, — the South 
and West producing the raw material, the West manufacturing it, 
the Bast, the commercial agent. This would indeed have bound the 
Union together by the strongest ties of interest. The prosperity 
of each section would have been the prosperity of all. Identity of 
interest would have been complete. Each section w T ould have been 
dependent upon the others for its prosperity, and neither could have 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 161 

been dispensed with. We should have been one body, — the South, 
the hands ; the East, the feet; the West, the trunk, receiving all, dis- 
pensing all. Our body politic would have been an unit, — one in- 
terest, one mind, one will. Perfect harmony prevailing, affections 
blending, united in purpose and in effort, the bond of amity and 
union would have been without a flaw. 

It is impossible to decide which section would have enjoyed the 
greater share of wealth and prosperity, — the producing South, the 
manufacturing West, or the commercial states of the Atlantic. It 
would have been a prosperity enriching all, sufficing all. As new 
markets were opened, Western manufactures would continually en- 
large the sphere of their operations, Southern planters grow more 
cotton, and the Atlantic states enlarge their dock-yards, to meet the 
growing wants of our commerce. 

Then, indeed, might America have become the standard bearer 
of Freedom and advancement. United, prosperous, and free, the 
influence of our example would be mighty, our power irresistible. 
Our immense superiority in wealth and commercial greatness would 
give us a moral ascendancy and a national influence that could not 
be resisted. In the present political state of the world our mandate 
would be law. The coming contest with despotism, now perhaps 
unavoidable, would have been averted. The nations would have 
grown up into liberty and enlightenment under the shadow of our 
protection; and before the mighty, though peaceful march of our 
career, Tyranny would have fallen without a struggle, withered as 
by the breath of the Almighty. 

II. Ouk Prosperity Pekpetual. 

The balances of the Constitution would prevent the government 
from committing those faults which cause political changes, and work 
the downfall of republics. And from the peculiar and fortunate 
circumstances of our industrial condition, we might hope to escape 
the operation of the forces which impel nations that rise from pov- 
erty and weakness to wealth and grandeur, through an unvarying 
cycle of corruption and decline. 

It has long been a problem how enterprise might be made con- 
sistent with virtue, and the highest civilization, with simplicity of 
11 



162 

manners, — and the past history of mankind has failed to furnish 
a solution. The wealth of commerce has always gendered cor- 
ruption, and ripened into decay. 

But demoralization is not necessarily incident to commerce, more 
than tyranny to government. Centralization is, in both instances, 
the cause of demoralization. Heretofore, in every age, capital and 
enterprise have diverted commerce from its natural channels. 
Countries having neither raw material, nor food for operatives, have 
become the center of manufactures. Their importations from every 
land have built up vast cities, whose growth has been still further 
forced by their being made the entrepot for exportations. And the 
narrow selfishness of governments has increased the evil, by compel- 
ling shippers, even at a loss, to land the articles received in exchange 
for manufactures at home ports, instead of seeking an immediate 
market for the cargo. 

England, for example, purchasing raw material and provisions 
from all the world, necessarily centralizes a wide traffic in her ports, 
to sustain her manufactures. And the produce received in exchange 
for her manufactured products is brought to English ports, to be 
sent thence to appropriate markets — again exchanged for produce to 
be brought to England — again exported and re-exchanged — and so on 
in endless succession. It is not so much manufactures, as this vast 
commerce which is the fruit of manufactures, that bloats the cities 
of a country. Thus, London, the center of commercial exchange, 
has a population of three million souls crowded in wretchedness 
within its limits, while Liverpool, the manufacturing entrepot, has a 
population of less than half a million. England already feels the 
plethora of this centralized commerce in the increase of selfishness, 
poverty, and crime, the relaxation of morals, the waning of political 
energy, and the paling of her proud spirit. 

This is the natural order. No commercial nation has ever yet 
escaped the operation of these causes. All have been exposed to 
them from their very location. Situated in the highway of trade, 
commercial countries have hitherto necessarily become the entrepots 
of the commerce they conducted. Tyre, Egypt, Venice, were situ- 
ated on the line of communication between the East and the West, 
and the commerce they successively carried on, all touched at their 



NORMAL CAREER OF THE UNITED STATES. 163 

docks. The same is true of Portugal, Holland, England, the suc- 
cessive commercial agents of modern times. Situated in the center 
of their traffic, they all became the central depots of their commerce, 
and became corrupted by excitement and the centralization of 
wealth. No commercial agent has yet arisen which did not of ne- 
cessity centralize commerce; nor any manufacturing country, pos- 
sessing within itself raw material, provisions, and labor, and in- 
debted to commerce for nothing necessary to its business. 

This destiny was reserved for us. Our country is so remote from 
the highway of commerce, that we might become the principal com- 
mercial agent of mankind, without centralizing traffic in our ports. 
And from the fortunate circumstances of our position, we might 
escape the luxury, and the industrial and social excitement, which 
lead to the corruption of manners and the downfall of states. The 
fungus excrescencies of a prurient civilization, — the factitious re- 
finement that seeks to hide its revolting selfishness with a thin vail 
of feigned benevolence ; the bloated Avarice which tramples Justice 
and right regardless of all save the attainment of its ends ; the 
fevered excitement which casts loose the anchors of faith and virtue, 
to drive before the furious passions of the hour, — these would find 
no aliment in the calm atmosphere of steady industry and quiet 
social life that marked our career. 

In the interior no very great cities would be needed, either as depots 
for provisions and raw material, or as entrepots of manufactures. 
Nor need there be any great manfacturing cities ; — but a multitude 
of villages, gemming all the navigable streams, and radiating intel- 
ligence and refinement over the neighboring country. Upon the 
seaboard only would great cities grow ; and there, if they became 
great enough to generate corruption, they would be too remote to 
poison the heart of social life. — But our normal traffic would not 
inflate them beyond the pass of virtue; and our coast is too remote 
from the commercial highway for the commodities received at 
various ports, in exchange for manufactures, to be brought home 
for distribution. 

We should become the carriers for mankind ; — but commerce 
would not be centralized upon our shores. We should conduct the 
traffic of the world ; — but it would not corrupt us. We should solve, 



164 the world's crisis. 

at last, the grand problem of ages, and dissever government from 
tyranny, and commerce from vice. We should exemplify order con- 
sistent with liberty, and enterprise and the highest civilization co- 
existent with probity, temperance, and all the moral virtues. The 
scepter of Progress need never have fallen from our hands 
through undesert. Our prosperity would have known no reverse, 
our grandeur no decay. As the Ages rolled along, they would have 
beheld us still, the stainless and honored Marshal of Progress, 
guiding the world on its destiny, and still as ever Great, United, 
Virtuous, and Free. 



We have now traced the operation of the causes in force in 1815, 
that would have launched our country upon a grand career of man- 
ufacturing industry. It remains to note the manner in which the 
intervention of the Federal government warped our industry, our 
social life and our political destiny. 



CHAPTER II. 

INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM IN WARPING OUR 

INDUSTRY. 

We are aware that, in its technical application, the American 
system only comprises a protective tariff, and internal improve- 
ments. In this work, however, the phrase, for the sake of conven- 
ience, is used in a more extended signification, as including the 
national bank, also. As used in this work, the phrase, "American 
System," is applied to, and includes all that system of unconstitu- 
tional measures adopted by the Federal government for the purpose 
of fostering the industrial prosperity of the country, — the National 
Bank, the Protective Tariff, and the system of Internal Improve- 
ment. It will be our object to trace the effect of these measures, 
especially the first two, upon our industry, our social life, and our 
political career. In this chapter, their influence in warping our 
industry will claim attention. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 165 

The thoughtful attention of the reader is solicited, on account of 
the abstruse nature of the subject requiring effort to follow the 
subtle chain of causation to its consequences, its importance as cor- 
roborating the views presented in the preceding chapter, and its 
important bearing upon the subsequent portion of the work. In- 
deed, the entire work is an unraveling of a connected train of causa- 
tion, of which this, and the preceding chapter, constitute the first 
strong links, upon which the rest depend. 

Sect. 1. Rise of the American System. 
The elements of the situation in 1815, which would have ulti- 
mately embarked the West in manufacturing industry, were, 

1. A specie currency ; 

2. Moderate taxes ; 

3. The absence of demand for Western produce. 

These conditions reduced prices in the West to the standard in- 
dispensable to manufacturing success. That section had, then, the 
three grand essentials to cheap manufactures : cheap and abundant 
labor; cheap and abundant raw materials; cheap and abundant 
provisions. 

The first effect of Western stagnation, as we have seen, would 
have been a general emigration to the Southern states. — As its next 
effect, it would have engaged the West, by force of necessity, in 
manufactures ; which course of industry, once begun, would have 
continued to expand, until Western manufactures supplied the mar- 
kets of the world. Stagnation would inevitably have produced this 
result, if it had been perfectly understood that the government 
would not intermeddle with internal industry ; that it was beyond 
its sphere of power, and would be left to the force of natural laws ; 
and that the people must look to their own energy for relief from 
the pressure of stagnation, and adapt their industry to the wants 
of the country. Then, without looking to the government for relief, 
the people would, at once, have gone to work in the right direction ; 
the establishment of manufactures would have removed stagnation, 
and the destiny of the country would have been accomplished. 

But, unfortunately, we were again to feel the effects of Hamilton's 
baneful policy. A bad precedent is always followed. The govern- 



166 the world's crisis. 

ment had once interfered, to afford relief in a period of general 
stagnation. The precedent had been established; and when the 
country emerged from the War with England, bankrupt, and with 
industry prostrate, a clamor arose for government relief. Unfor- 
tunately, the Federal government again interfered with internal af- 
fairs, and with a stronger hand than in 1791. Its intervention 
prevented the possibility of a normal career, and diverted the in- 
dustry of the country into abnormal channels. 

The Federal government was then under control of the Repub- 
licans. But the rising generation of statesmen had been reared 
beneath the aegis of the Federal government, and had not the jeal- 
ousy of its power, nor the reverence for the rights of the states, felt 
by their predecessors. For years, the contest with the Federalists 
had turned more upon foreign relations than constitutional con- 
struction, and the battlement before which no foe appeared was left 
unguarded. It was palpable that the country was in a state of stag- 
nation such as that, from which the intervention of government had 
rescued it, in 1791 ; the clamors for relief re-echoed in the Capital; 
the Federalists, crushed by the war, were yet watchful to seize a 
favorable opportunity to reinaugurate their policy : many of the 
Republicans feared to meet the issue, in the existing state of the 
country ; they thought it safer for the party, to anticipate their op- 
ponents, and proffer to the country measures of relief. 

The state of the currency seemed the most pressing source of 
distress. According to estimate, there was only $15,000,000 of 
specie in the country. The state banks (except a few in New En- 
gland) had suspended specie payment, and their issues were dis- 
credited. 

The remedy was sought in a United States Bank. Accordingly, 
in 1816, a bill was passed, granting a charter for twenty years to a 
bank, having its issues based chiefly upon government credit, with 
but a small proportion of specie in its vaults. — In the same session, 
a tariff act was passed, laying some protective duties, but fixing 
customs chiefly at a revenue standard. 

For some years after the establishment of the Bank and Tariff, 
their influence was rather of a negative, than a positive character. 
The tariff of 1816 fixed duties at a standard sufficiently high to pro- 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 167 

tect the manufactures already in existence ; but not high enough to 
induce fresh capital to embark in them. The Bank, for the time, 
rendered the influence of the Tariff nugatory. 

The Bank circulation infused new vitality into the currency. Its 
notes passed readily at par, and not only increased the currency to 
the extent of their circulation, but enabled the state banks to re- 
establish their credit. The country, though destitute of specie, was 
flooded with a paper medium, which inflated prices far beyond the 
specie standard. 

But the Bank did not produce the effect that was expected from 
it. Its advocates had hoped that it would banish business depres- 
sion, as in 1791. But the difference of the circumstances was for- 
gotten. In 1791, an active business was waiting capital, which the 
Bank furnished. But in 1816, there was no longer a Carrying 
Trade, in which capital might be invested ; our marine was already 
larger than our commerce required : the government offered capital 
to the country, when its great need was some branch of enterprise 
in which capital might be profitably invested. The Bank did not 
meet the wants of the time. The industry of the Eastern and Mid- 
dle states continued to languish; and the West, to labor under stag- 
nation. 

The cause of the general stagnation was obvious. Every busi- 
ness was over-crowded : there were too many shippers for the lim- 
ited commerce of the country ; too many merchants engaged in its 
traffic ; too many farmers for the limited demand for produce. The 
country was not so much in want of more capital, as of some profit- 
able channel of enterprise, in which to invest the capital that was 
already overdoing the agricultural, mercantile, and shipping inter- 
ests of the country. The proper remedy was to withdraw a portion 
of the capital and labor invested in merchandize, shipping, and 
agriculture, and invest it in manufactures. This would have given 
an additional market to agriculture, and increased the business of 
the mercantile and shipping interests, stimulating the entire busi- 
ness of the country into activity. 

So far from relieving stagnation, the Bank intensified it. Its 
issues inflated the standard of prices throughout the country, and 
rendered successful manufacturing impossible. The quack nostrum 



168 the world's crisis. 

which, in 1791, happened to afford relief, in 1816, increased the 
sufferings of the patient. Labor and provisions still remained cheap 
in the West, owing to a want of demand ; but capitalists knew that 
if they established manufactures there, and created a demand, the 
price of both would at once be inflated to the paper standard, when 
the manufactures must collapse. With the fear of paper inflation 
before their eyes, they wisely declined to engage in manufactures, 
notwithstanding our natural advantages. 

A specie standard of prices was essential to success in competi- 
tion with England. The inflation incident to a paper medium more 
than counterbalanced all our advantages. England, manufacturing 
upon a specie basis, notwithstanding high taxes, and dear provisions 
and raw material, could undersell us in our own market. England 
understands how essential is a specie basis to industrial prosperity. 
A national bank is maintained there, because specie is too neces- 
sary to her Tropical commerce to be sunk, in great quantities, in 
the home currency. But the greatest precautions are taken to 
guard against inflation. The paper currency is restricted to an 
amount barely sufficient for the transaction of the business of the 
realm, and the notes are so large (the smallest being £5, or $25,) as 
not to be substituted for coin, in ordinary transactions. To her 
sagacity in maintaining a limited currency, England mainly owes 
her commercial greatness. The low scale of specie prices compen- 
sates, in some measure, for the excessive government taxation, and 
the high cost of imported provisions and raw material. No nation 
that inflates prices with a paper currency can compete with her in- 
dustry, whatever its natural advantages. 

A notion is current among us, that an abundant and cheap cur- 
rency is necessary to promote national prosperity. Never was 
there a greater mistake. This question will be treated at large in 
another connection; at present, not to turn the attention too far 
from the subject before us, a few thoughts must suffice. — The infla- 
tion of the currency is productive of no benefit ; on the contrary, 
it places national industry at great disadvantage, in competition 
with foreign enterprise. An inflated currency may raise the rate 
of wages from one to two hundred dollars a year ; but the laborer 
is not thereby benefited : his expenses are doubled; and if he saves 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 169 

double the money he would at specie rate of wages, his savings, at 
the inflated price of property, are of no more real value for invest- 
ment. The farmer is not enriched by selling his produce at a 
double price; — every thing he buys is enhanced in the same 
ratio ; and he pays double for the property in which he wishes to 
invest his savings. The effect of inflation is to increase the nom- 
inal value of wages, profits, and property, without any intrinsic en- 
hancement of value; but it is ruinous to general industry: the 
cost of production is greatly increased; and when the industry of a 
country, where all prices are thus inflated, comes in competition 
with that of a country where a specie range of prices obtains, it is 
at once driven from the field. 

The redundancy of the paper currency was rendered more exces- 
sive in consequence of the general stagnation of industry. There 
was no business in which the paper issues could be employed. 
Manufacturing being impracticable, the industry of the country, 
and especially of the West, continued to languish. 

The planting interest alone flourished, with an active foreign de- 
mand, at remunerative prices. Emigration began to flow rapidly to 
the South, — planters emigrating to the cotton field with their ser- 
vants, attracted by the high price of the staple in the English mar- 
ket. The chief immigration to the West, at that period, consisted 
of adventurers, with little or no capital, attracted by its cheap lands 
and fertile soil. 

The Southern immigration, as yet, could not, with their utmost 
efforts, supply the cotton demand; the planters found it most 
profitable to concentrate their entire force upon the production of 
cotton, buying stock and supplies from the West. But this limited 
demand could not afford an adequate market for the products of the 
teeming Western soil ; and the age of steamboats, scarce begun, 
had not yet facilitated communication and cheapened freights. The 
price of Western produce was still extremely low. That section 
afforded, as yet, no attraction to the capitalist. 

A large immigration of planters continued to flow toward the 
South ; but the tide of active adventurers, also, continued to pour 
into the West. Western production increased more rapidly than 
the Southern market. 



170 

The obvious remedy, — equalizing production and consumption by 
emigration to the Southern cotton field, must have suggested itself 
to thousands. But man is averse to change ; and the population of 
the West remained, in the expectation that government would devise 
measures for their relief. 

Henry Clay, the Great Westerner, beheld with concern the 
distress pervading his section. His penetrating genius readily per- 
ceived the cause, and promptly devised a remedy. — The West needed 
a Market. The slight foreign demand for the agricultural products 
of the latitude was engrossed by the seaboard states. The Home 
Market must be increased; and, to this end, capital must be em- 
barked in manufactures, withdrawing thousands from agriculture, to 
become consumers. If the cost of manufacturing was increased by 
the inflation of the currency, the government must enable the man- 
ufacturer to raise the price of his fabric up to the general level, or 
above it, by means of an exorbitant tariff. A tariff must be carried, 
imposing duties so excessive as to raise the price of manufactured 
articles to a point that would make manufacturing the best business 
in the country, and enlist capital in it, extensively, and at once. — 
But, until domestic manufactures should make considerable progress, 
exorbitant duties would fill the treasury to overflowing. To obviate 
this, a gigantic system of internal improvement was proposed; 
ostensibly, as necessary to facilitate communication, and the trans- 
portation of produce and goods to market ; but really, as a means 
of effecting the necessary depletion of the treasury, and of being 
used, upon occasion, as a bonus, to secure to the protective policy 
important votes. 

These measures, — an exorbitant tariff, and a system of internal 
improvement, comprised what was termed the American System. 

Mr. Clay put forth herculean efforts to get his American System 
on foot; but the manifest unconstitutionality of the measures de- 
terred many from their support. In 1820, a tariff bill passed the 
House of Representatives, but was defeated in the Senate. Bills 
making appropriations for internal improvements were defeated by 
the presidential veto. 

Meantime, the planting emigration continued to drift to the 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 171 

South — not rapidly enough, however, to over-supply the cotton 
market. The planters continued to give their undivided energies 
to the production of cotton, obtaining supplies from the West. But 
rapidly as the Southern market increased, the Western supply grew 
faster. The stream of industrious adventurers still flowed into the 
West and spread over its broad and fertile surface. The products 
of agricultural labor glutted the market, and lay stored in barns, 
without a purchaser. Distress deepened ; Stagnation reigned ; 
general Ruin hovered over the land. There seemed no escape but 
flight. Flight was the true remedy, and many emigrated with their 
slaves to the South. But the great mass of population, attached to 
home, and averse to change, sat brooding over their misfortunes, 
and hoping for government relief. The distress continued to 
deepen until 1824, when another tariff bill was introduced into 
Congress. 

Mr. Clay, on that occasion, in an earnest and impassioned speech, 
depicted the sufferings of the West, and declared the Tariff the only 
hope of relief. 

The tariff bill excited the most strenuous opposition. New En- 
gland, then devoted to shipping, united with the South in opposition 
to it. Being recognized as a measure of relief, designed to create 
a home market for the benefit of agriculture, it was carried against 
them by the votes of the agricultural states. 

Sect. 2. Ruinous Influence of the American System upon the 
Development of Manufactures. 

In this phrase, as will be remembered, we include the Bank, the 
Protective Tariff, and Internal Improvements. 

We do not propose to enter into an extended argument, here, to 
demonstrate the unconstitutionality of these measures. The argu- 
ment has been too often produced, and is too generally understood, 
to need repetition. The right to pass these measures was claimed 
for Congress by a latitudinarian construction of the Constitution, as 
among the powers conveyed by implication. They were all viola- 
tions, both of the letter, and the principle of the Constitution. 

A proposition to invest the Federal Government with power to 
establish chartered institutions was made in the Constitutional Con- 



172 the world's crisis. 

vention ; — but the Convention positively refused its assent ; thus 
withholding from the Congress the power to charter a bank. — The 
right to foster industry by a tariff levying extravagant duties on 
importations from all foreign countries had never before been 
claimed by the government. Tariff duties are expressly limited in 
the Constitution to revenue, as their specific object; except when 
they are used in retaliatory legislation, as a means of regulating 
commerce with any country whose legislation and policy are antago- 
nistic to our interests. But this object precludes the idea of a gen- 
eral tariff against all foreign goods ; for the supposition that we 
propose to assume an attitude of antagonism toward the whole 
world, and adopt retaliatory measures against the commerce of all 
foreign nations, is too absurd to be entertained for a moment. — The 
advantage of internal improvements had been recognized by Jeffer- 
son, Madison, and Monroe ; who had all recommended an amend- 
ment of the Constitution, granting Congress power to make them. 
Despairing of this, it was now proposed to assume the power by 
the more ready process of a latitudinarian construction. — These 
measures were all violations of the principle of the Constitution, also 
usurpations of power over the internal administration, which 
was carefully withheld from the Federal government. In passing 
them, Congress was trenching upon the reserved province of State 
rights, and necessarily fostering some interests at the expense of 
others, thus awakening furious passions, jarring interests, and sec- 
tional animosities. 

But we propose rather to consider these measures in their prac- 
tical aspect, than in their abstract constitutional relations — to note 
their influence upon the industry, the social life, and the political 
course of our country; — and not ours, only, but foreign countries 
also ; for the causes which affect our national development do not 
stop with us, but exert a marked influence upon the foreign world. 

Considered in this aspect, internal improvement may be almost 
left out of view. It was but the auxiliary of the Tariff, designed 
to deplete the treasury when too plethoric with the revenues derived 
from high duties, and to conciliate important sections to the tariff 
policy of the government, by timely disbursements of government 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 173 

funds in their midst. Moreover, being aborted by executive veto, 
it never materially affected the development of the country. 

The Bank and Tariff were the Titan bands which swaddled our 
infant industry into distorted development. The Bank, alone, might 
repress ; it could not distort. It so inflated prices as to render 
manufacturing industry impossible ; articles imported from abroad 
were the only cheap commodities in the country, — so cheap, that 
our inflated industry could not produce them. It was the office of 
the Tariff to inflate the price of these commodities, also, and thus 
bring them within the range of our abnormal industry. The Bank 
raised the price of the products of our own industry to an artificial 
standard : the Tariff was designed to raise the price of foreign 
products to the same artificial level. 

These measures have continued to warp our industry, up to the 
present time. In 1824, the tariff was raised more decidedly to the 
protective standard by the imposition of high duties ; in 1828, the 
duties were increased ; under the Compromise Tariff of 1832, the 
high duties were continued until 1841 ; in 1842, the protective sys- 
tem was re-established in all its rigor, and continued until 1846; it 
was then overthrown, and superseded by a Tariff adjusted upon the 
revenue basis. Thus the country continued under the protective 
system, uninterruptedly, for thirty years ; for twenty-two years of 
the period, the most rigorous protective duties were maintained. — 
The influence of the Bank continued even longer ; for, though the 
institution was overthrown in 1836, yet the State banks continued 
to maintain the currency at the inflated standard that prevailed dur- 
ing its existence, even down to 1861. 

We now turn to the influence of these measures upon the develop- 
ment of our industry — especially their influence in dwarfing our 
manufactures. 

The essential conditions of manufacturing success in the United 
States, are : 

1. That manufactures be established in the West, in the heart of 
the region producing raw material and provisions, placing con- 
sumption and supply in juxtaposition. 

2. That we have a specie currency. 



174 

3. That all classes of productive industry be as little burdened as 
possible with taxation, especially with taxation levied by means of 
a tariff. 

The reason of these essential conditions is obvious. Neigh- 
boring supplies of raw material, a specie currency, and low taxes, 
are necessary conditions of the cheap labor, cheap raw material, 
and cheap provisions, which are essential requisites to successful 
manufactures. 

The Bank and Tariff reversed all these conditions. 

L The Bank and Tariff dwarf ottr Manufactures, by locating them in 

New England. 

The high prices established by the Tariff engaged capital in 
manufactures wherever it existed. The West, their proper seat, 
had no capital, and could not engage in them. Capital had accu- 
mulated in New England only ; and, though originally opposed to the 
Tariff, that section, with characteristic energy, now resolved to' 
avail itself of its benefits. Unfortunately for herself, and for the 
country, New England engaged in manufactures, — the section fur- 
thest removed from the supply of raw material and provisions — the 
only section which had no advantage over England in respect of 
the supplies necessary to manufacturing industry. 

Our manufacturing industry has never recovered from this fatal 
error. The Tariff not only made New England the seat of manu- 
factures, but it set in operation a train of causes which ever after 
precluded the West from engaging in this department of industry. 

The immediate effect of the diversion of capital caused by the 
Tariff was universal activity. Factory buildings began to rise 
along the New England streams, giving employment to thousands 
of builders, and calling into existence hundreds of iron foundries 
in the Eastern and Middle States, to make and repair their machin- 
ery. — The foundries, in turn, stimulated, by their demand, working 
of the mines of iron and coal. — The new activity required greatly 
increased means of transportation : it infused new life into the dock- 
yards ; and soon after afforded a new market to active industry, in 
the construction of railroads. — An immense demand for labor 
sprung up in the Middle and Eastern states, — to be employed in 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 175 

building factories, foundries, vessels, and roads ; in carrying on 
operative industry in factories and iron works ; in working mines ; 
and in the various departments of transportation and supph\ This 
labor was chiefly aggregated in cities ; and the erection of tene- 
ments still further stimulated activity in the building interest, and 
the various supply departments of building material. Thousands 
were withdrawn from agriculture, and thousands emigrated from 
Europe, to supply the immense demand for industry thus opened, 
and to engage in the various avocations incident to city life. 

The era of manufactures converted the seaboard states into a 
vast work-shop, filled with busy multitudes engaged in all the avoca- 
tions of toil. The agriculturists of those states, diminished by the 
numbers withdrawn to other avocations, could not supply the im- 
mense demand. — A market was thus opened for the products of the 
"West. Though the cereals of the West could not be carried across 
the mountains to the seaboard ; yet, converted into beef and pork, 
the cattle might be driven to market, and the pork carried around 
by way of the gulf. Western stagnation was now at an end. The 
Eastern demand had quadrupled its market. The prices of produce 
at once advanced to the inflated paper standard. 

This state of things reversed the natural conditions that would 
have engaged the West in manufacturing, and diverted the energies 
of that section into a different channel. In the absence of all de- 
mand for its agricultural products, the West, as we have seen, must 
have engaged, perforce, in manufactures. But this active demand 
in the East for Western produce — this artificial demand created by 
the Tariff, changed the condition of things, as if by magic. It not 
only gave the West an Eastern market, but it perpetuated its South- 
ern market, and engaged Western industry exclusively in producing 
and forwarding supplies to both the other sections. 

The Eastern market for Western produce reversed the relative 
condition of the West and South. Formerly, the Southern planter 
had greatly the advantage of the Western agriculturalist. He sold 
his produce in the foreign market at fair prices, for specie, and 
bought his supplies cheap in a market glutted with Western produce. 
As a consequence of this state of things, immigration was flowing 
rapidly into the Southern states. The Tariff reversed this state of 



176 the world's crisis. 

affairs, and gave the West a decided advantage. The South still 
sold at specie prices, as before; — but it purchased every article of 
consumption at prices inflated by the new conditions inaugurated by 
the Tariff: The price of its agricultural supplies was inflated by 
the enormous Eastern demand, and by the redundant paper curren- 
cy ; and every product of manufacturing industry was inflated by 
the excessive duties of the Tariff. The condition of the Western 
farmer was much more advantageous. His groceries and clothing 
constituted his only necessary expenses ; and the high price of 
these articles were compensated by the equally high price of his 
produce. He bought little ; and he bought and sold by the same scale 
of prices. The planter bought much; and he bought at inflated 
prices, while he sold in the foreign market at specie rates. It was 
now more profitable to grow Western produce for the home market, 
than cotton at foreign prices. 

As a natural consequence of this posture of affairs, immigration 
to the South fell off. The slaveholders of the Western states 
ceased to emigrate ; the Virginia and Maryland planters, in many 
instances, chose to sell their slaves to the South, and invest the 
proceeds in Western enterprise or speculation. Few slaves went 
South by emigration. The labor of that section continued inade- 
quate to supply the cotton market ; and, consequently, it was still 
devoted almost exclusively to the production of cotton, while sup- 
plies were obtained from the West. 

Thus the Tariff made the West the granary, whence both the East 
and the South drew their agricultural supplies. The production 
and transportation of supplies engrossed all its energies. Cities 
sprung up on all its borders, fostered into mushroom growth by this 
immense traffic in produce. 

The West now became the chosen field of capital. While the 
South had but one interest, Western enterprise flowed in many chan- 
nels. Farming yielded better returns than cotton ; the traffic in 
produce was more profitable than either ; and speculation in West- 
ern lands and city lots was most profitable of all. Capital found 
every where safe and profitable investment, and enterprise a lucra- 
tive field, — and capital and enterprise flowed Westward in a hun- 



INFLUENCE OF TIIE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 177 

dred streams, all tributary to its prosperity, and swelling its grow- 
ing greatness. 

Thus, by means of the Bank and Tariff, the Federal government 
diverted the entire industry of the country from its natural course. 
It had not yet worn its channels, and readily followed the guiding 
finger of Power. — To recapitulate : — 

First effect: The tariff crowded multitudes in the Middle and 
Eastern states into factories, workshops, and the various depart- 
ments of auxiliary enterprise. 

Second effect : The Eastern market stimulated Western industry, 
and gave birth to Western cities, making that section the most in- 
viting field for capital and enterprise. 

Third effect : Emigration was thus diverted from the South ; leav- 
ing its labor to be gradually increased by the purchase of slaves, 
and wholly inadequate to the supply of the cotton market ; thus 
preventing the industry of that section from becoming self-sustain- 
ing, and making it permanently dependent upon the West for sup- 
plies. 

Fourth effect: The West thus became the permanent purveyor for 
both the other sections ; and all its energies were engrossed in the 
production and transportation of supplies. 

But industry cannot be warped with impunity. The swaddling 
bands which constrict infancy into deformity will leave their traces 
in the malformation of manhood. This unconstitutional interfe- 
rence of the Federal government with our internal industry warped 
and dwarfed our Industry ; and marred our social life, and our polit- 
ical destiny. 

When the policy of the Federal government had forced the West 
into the production and transportation of supplies for the other sec- 
tions, that unnatural and factitious course of industry rendered it 
impossible for that section to embark in manufactures. Capital 
found more profitable investment, in either the produce trade, or 
speculation. From the moment the West became the producer for 
the other sections, with mushroom cities springing up to carry on 
the traffic, our normal course of industry became impossible. The 
only section that could have achieved manufacturing greatness was 
diverted from that department of enterprise, and manufactures were 
12 



178 

located in a section where they always have been, and always will 
be, a feeble exotic. 

The locality where the government tariff located manufactures 
labors under peculiar, and excessive disadvantages. New England 
is the most unfortunate location for manufactures in the whole coun- 
try. It never would have engaged in them, but for the excessive 
bonus offered by the Tariff. It embarked its capital in them as a 
speculation, expecting the government to continue permanently its 
fostering protection, and resolved by every means to exact it. The 
establishment of manufactures in New England was the greatest 
misfortune the country has ever suffered. 

The West, the heart of the great producing region, with raw ma- 
terial and provisions close to the manufactories, had a great advan- 
tage over England as a manufacturing site. But New England had 
no such advantage. Under the most favorable circumstances, New 
England compared with the West as a site for manufactures, labors 
under a disadvantage of at least 20 per cent, in the cost of produc- 
tion. It is impossible for the New England manufacturer to com- 
pete on equal terms with the English ; for he is at a disadvantage 
in respect of the cost of raw material ; in respect of the cost of 
provisions ; and, consequently, of labor, also. 

Of the two, England has the advantage in respect of a supply of 
raw material. Wool can be transported to England from Northern 
Europe, the Mediterranean, and South America, cheaper than from 
the West to New England. Southern cotton can be forwarded to 
Liverpool almost as cheaply as to Boston, or Lowell. — In respect 
of a supply of provisions, also, for the operatives engaged in fac- 
tories and the auxiliary departments of industry, New England is 
placed at a disadvantage. The vast aggregation of numbers in the 
East renders necessary immense importations of provisions from the 
West. The market is ruled by the price at which Western produce 
can be offered. After being carried a thousand miles by railroad, 
and passing through the hands of six or eight traders, all of whom 
levy upon it large profits, Western produce will cost more in New 
England than the produce of Canada or Northern Europe in Liver- 
pool. The Tariff placed our manufactures at a point where, with all 
our abundance, food is always higher than it is in Europe. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 179 

Laboring under these disadvantages, New England mills have 
never been able to compete with English fabrics, even in our own 
markets. And so it must always be. Under no circumstances can 
the New England mill manufacture so cheaply as the English. 

New England factories always have needed protection, — they al- 
ways will. 

The Tariff, by locating our factories there, at a point so remote 
both from our cotton field and our agricultural region, has dwarfed 
our manufacturing industry, and rendered it inadequate to the sup- 
ply of our own demand. 



normal Industrial System they originate. 

In locating manufactures in New England, and making the West 
the purveyor of agricultural supplies for both the other sections, the 
Bank and Tariff originated an abnormal system of industry, injur- 
ious in the highest degree to all branches of productive industry, 
and especially to our manufactures. 

Under this abnormal system, the industry of each section was 
forced into a special channel, leaving the section dependent upon 
the others for every thing except the specialty it produced. The 
South grew cotton exclusively; the West became exclusively agri- 
cultural; the East was engrossed with manufactures and commerce. 
Neither section had a home supply for its wants, or a home market 
for its industry. The West sought a market in the East and South ; 
the East, in the South and West ; the South, abroad, and in both 
the other sections. Thus the producer and consumer were placed 
at the greatest distance from each other, — and a vast and rapid sys- 
tem of interchange grew up. This vast system of internal com- 
merce consisted chiefly of a traffic in the raw products of agri- 
culture, — a violation of the true principles of commerce, which 
require that commercial commodities (except tropical productions) 
shall consist exclusively of the products of manufacturing industry ; 
all bulky products of agriculture, such as raw material and provisions 
being consumed in their native region. — This violation of commer- 
cial principles was productive of the most serious injury to our in- 
dustry, and bore with especial severity upon manufactures. 



180 the world's crisis. 

The extent of this immense interchange between the sections 
may be seen in the numerous and populous cities which have sprung 
up, to transact it ; and in the railroads necessary to carry it on. 
These interior cities, fostered almost exclusively* by the internal 
traffic of the country, are found especially upon the borders of the 
West, whence its productions were shipped to the South, and the 
East. A new country sparsely peopled, and possessing broad tracts 
of cheap and fertile lands would be expected to have, in proportion 
to its numbers, a much larger agricultural population, and propor- 
tionally fewer inhabitants in cities. But instead, the East and the 
West are dotted over with cities. Even among the crowded nations 
of the Old World — except England, the manufacturer and com- 
mercial agent for mankind — no country of equal population has half 
so many people crowded into commercial cities. Leaving out Lon- 
don, the commercial entrepot for the world, even England falls be- 
hind us in this regard. — There is no lack of capital in Europe to 
construct necessary works of internal improvement; yet notwith- 
standing the unrivaled facilities for water communication afforded by 
the Lakes on the North, the Atlantic and the Gulf on the South 
and East, and the Mississippi and its tributaries draining all the in- 
terior west of the Alleghanies, we have more miles of railway than 
all the rest of the world combined. 

Many look upon these cities and railways with pride, as important 
elements of our greatness. They suppose that they increase our 
wealth in the ratio of their development. So they would, were the 
cities engaged in productive industry, and the railways engaged in 

* These Western cities must have sprung up to carry on the commerce of 
their sections with foreign countries. And with a prosperous commerce between 
the West and foreign countries, based on Western manufactures, they might 
have become larger than at present. The author would not be understood as 
objecting to the existence of the cities, but to the traffic only, which has fostered 
them. There is not a city in the West which is not well situated to carry on a 
legitimate commerce with foreign countries, and essential to that object. Had 
they sprung up, fostered by manufactures and foreign commerce, it had been 
well. But as it is, comparatively a small part of their trade consists in a legit- 
imate commerce with foreign countries: their chief business consists in a profit- 
less, nay injurious traffic between the sections. It is this traffic in which our 
cities are occupied, to which objection is made. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 181 

the transportation incident to a traffic founded upon just commercial 
principles. But the cities are built up by a population withdrawn 
from productive industry, and engaged in a traffic which ought never 
to have had existence, — a traffic which originated in the wide sepa- 
ration of production and consumption, which ought to have been in 
juxtaposition. Under the present system of city traffic, both they 
and the railroads are a disadvantage to our industry, and are sup- 
ported by a heavy tax upon production. 

To illustrate : An extensive farmer, who might feed his stock in 
lots convenient to his fields with little cost, is taken with a freak to 
feed them only upon a height, at the extreme border of his plantation. 
Consequently he must erect storehouses, and build costly roads, and 
establish a village for the extra laborers occupied in transportation. 
He may point with pride to his village, his roads, his storehouses, as 
evidences of wealth, but Common Sense will decide that, so far from 
increasing his wealth, they have detracted from it ; that he is the 
poorer by so much as his village, his roads, his storehouses have 
cost ; and that all the labor and capital expended in keeping up his 
improvements and hauling produce, instead of being invested in til- 
lage and other productive industry, is so much subtracted from his 
annual profits. 

So, the interchange of products, in a country, does not increase 
its wealth. A family grows not richer by traffic between its mem- 
bers, — nor does a state. There are but two sources of national 
wealth ; productive industry, and foreign (not domestic) commerce. 
The profits of commerce are levied upon the producer and the con- 
sumer ; the one receiving so much less, the other paying so much 
more, to make up the profits. The charges of internal commerce 
are levied entirely upon the productive industry of the country. 
Internal traffic is, to some extent, a necessity, but it should be dimin- 
ished as far as practicable, by placing production and consumption 
as nearly as possible in juxtaposition. 

The policy which widely separates production and consumption 
levies a heavy tax upon both. Western agriculture, and Eastern 
manufactures must pay a tax upon their interchange equal to the 
interest of the money invested in the means of interchange, together 
with all the charges and profits of the commerce. Charges levied 



182 

upon Western agriculture and Eastern manufactures have built up 
the cities and railroads which connect them; charges are still levied 
upon them, to pay interest on the original investment, and, to pay 
for all the labor, and reward all the enterprise engaged in the traf- 
fic. They have not only built the cities and railroads ; — but they 
keep them up ; they build up city fortunes ; support all the inhabi- 
tants of cities ; and pay interest on all city investments. 

We see the consequences of this, in the impoverishment of 
Western agriculture, and the oppression of Eastern manufac- 
tures, — where the operatives perish in poorhouses, while the 
distressed manufacturers are continually clamoring for additional 
protection. 

In every point of view, the aggregation of population, and enter- 
prise, and capital in cities engaged, not in productive industry and 
foreign commerce, but in carrying on a traffic between the sections, 
is injurious. It is a serious loss to our prosperity to withdraw so 
great resources from productive industry, to be embarked in a traf- 
fic which adds nothing to the national wealth ; but it is still more 
injurious when these resources are employed in a traffic, which not 
merely adds nothing to our wealth, but inflicts actual injury upon 
our industry. So large a proportion of our resources rendered nuga- 
tory were a serious loss ; but the injury is infinitely worse when they 
are sunk in parasite cities preying upon productive industry. Cap- 
ital and energy and population enough to have made us manufac- 
turers for the world, if properly directed, have been sunk in carrying 
on this profitless, injurious traffic between the sections. 

These interior cities are all favorably situated for manufacturing. 
If they would turn their attention to manufactures, and employ their 
population and their capital in working up the raw material and con- 
suming the provisions of the immense basin in which they are situ- 
ated, and use the railways as auxiliaries to their manufacturing 
industry, they would add vastly to the national wealth and pros- 
perity. While they continue to be mere agents in conducting the 
traffic between the sections, they will continue to be what they have 
hitherto been, — Vampires, sucking the life-blood of our Productive 
Industry, and exhausting agriculture and manufactures by their 
exactions upon both. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 183 

The oppression of the productive industry of the country was 
increased by the universal Speculation gendered by the Tariff. The 
rapid growth of Western cities, and the settlement of wild lands, 
caused great enhancement of prices yielding to speculation immense 
returns. Speculation in lands and city lots became a recognized 
and important feature in the business of the country. — This injured 
manufactures in three several ways : — 

1. An immense deal of capital was withheld from this, and other 
branches of productive industry, to be embarked in speculations in 
real estate. 

2. Manufactures, and other branches of productive industry, came 
to measure their profits by the standard of speculation. The specu- 
lative spirit increased the expenses of the manufacturer ; and it also 
caused him to exact larger returns from his investment. And as, 
under the conditions of foreign competition, manufactures could not 
yield such returns, even under a high protective tariff, capital turned 
aside from them to be embarked in speculation in real estate, or in 
some of the thousand avocations incident to the carrying trade be- 
tween the sections. The speculative spirit gendered by the course 
of industry fostered by the Tariff has, by the withdrawal of capital 
from manufactures to other pursuits, done more to dwarf them, per- 
haps, than any other agency. 

3. But this speculative spirit did not injure manufactures in a nega- 
tive manner only, by withdrawing capital and enterprise from them; 
it inflicted upon them direct and positive injury, by producing a 
general inflation of prices, thus increasing the cost of manufactur- 
ing. Speculation soon passed from real estate into the general 
business of the country. There was speculation everywhere, and 
in everything — not merely in lands, and railroads, and city lots, but 
in the food we ate, the clothes we w T ore. The speculating miller 
bought the farmer's wheat — he transported his flour, upon a specu- 
lating railroad, to the speculating produce dealer of some Western 
city — who shipped it again, upon a speculating railroad, to the 
speculating wholesale dealer in the East — by whom it w T as purchased 
and transmitted to the speculating grocer — w T ho supplied the retail 
shopkeeper — who dispensed it to his customers. At every stage, 
produce was preyed upon by speculation. Western pork passed to 



184 

market through the hands of the speculating drover — the specu- 
lating packer — the speculating wholesale dealer — the speculating 
grocer — to the retail shop, — not to mention the various railways 
whose stockholders invested their capital in a speculation upon 
transportation. The Southern planter — buying his supplies trans- 
mitted to him through various speculators — raised cotton on a 
speculation — to be shipped upon steamboats and railroads built on 
speculation — to a speculating commission merchant — who shipped 
it upon a vessel built on speculation — to the speculating factor — 
who turned it over to the speculating cotton merchant — who sup- 
plied the factory, — whence it was shipped in fabric by various spec- 
ulating railways — through various speculating merchants — all over 
the country to the consumer. So remote was consumption from pro- 
duction that every article of productive industry nourished from seven 
to twelve parasites of speculation, before it reached its destination. 
The manufacturer and operative of New England and the Western 
farmer, both paid higher for supplies, and received less for their 
industry and its products, than if the market had been nearer the 
producer. Speculators battened on the industry of the country, and 
built up fortunes at the expense of the manufacturer, the planter, 
the farmer. 

This tendency to speculation was the unavoidable result of the 
system which separated so widely producer and consumer, — which 
deprived each section of a home market, and necessitated the ship- 
ment of the productions of its industry to the other sections. When 
the South and West shipped their wool and cotton to New England 
to be manufactured ; and the West shipped its agricultural products 
to the South and East to support the operative population of those 
sections ; and the East shipped its goods to the West and South as 
their market, — a gigantic system of speculation could not but 
grow up. 

The entire system was abnormal, and was necessarily attended 
with baneful effects. — It caused the spirit of fevered speculation 
that is so striking a feature of our commercial life. — It (together 
with a paper currency) caused the fluctuations of business so fatal 
to our mercantile enterprise. Tropical productions and manufac- 
tured goods have a fixed value ; but raw products fluctuate with 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 185 

the seasons, and their excessive rise and fall make and mar fortunes, 
in a day. — But the worst influence of the system and the speculation 
incident to it, was its influence upon our manufacturing industry, 
upon which it heaped the multiplied charges of speculation, and so 
raised the general scale of prices as to render extensive manufac- 
tures impossible. 

The system was abnormal and ruinous, in every point of view. 
Raw products ought never to enter into commerce, but ought to be 
consumed as near the place of production as possible. Commerce 
ought to consist exclusively of manufactured commodities and tro- 
pical products of luxurious consumption. Where commerce con- 
sists chiefly of raw agricultural products, productive industry is 
injured, both by high prices, and by the great numbers withdrawn 
from production, to carry on the system of interchange ; and com- 
merce is excited into undue activity, generating speculation, and 
poisoning the springs of social life. — If any fail to see the injury the 
system inflicts upon industry, carry out the principle to its legiti- 
mate consequences, and it at once becomes apparent. If the system 
which conveys raw products a thousand miles to market is promo- 
tive of the prosperity of a country, then the country will be ren- 
dered more prosperous still, by having all its raw products conveyed 
to a distant market. If the prosperity of the United States is in- 
creased by the commerce in raw products between the sections, let 
all its raw products be brought into the system of interchange, — 
our internal commerce will be increased ; our cities and railroads 
will flourish ; but will the general prosperity of the country be in- 
creased ? Let the West send its apples to the East, to be distilled 
into brandy; its corn,. its rye, its barley, to be manufactured into 
whiskey, ale, and beer; its wheat, to be ground into flour; its hogs, 
to be made into bacon. This is better than to manufacture those 
articles at home ! It creates in the East a demand for Western pro- 
duce to supply the operatives ; and the transportation will increase 
trade, and benefit the cities and railways ! Let no raw produce be 
manufactured where it is produced ; but let all be transported for 
manufacture to New England, together with provisions for the op- 
eratives, and be reshipped thence back again for consumption. 

Try this plan, and see if the prosperity of the country will be in- 



186 

creased. Will the Western farmer be benefited by sending his hogs 
to New England and bringing his bacon thence, instead of making 
it at home ? The cities and railroads engaged in the traffic between 
the sections will be benefited ; so will New England : but will the 
farmer prosper under the system? will the country? Can a Boston 
mill buy Western wheat, and ship flour back to Cincinnati, and sell 
it as cheap as the Cincinnati mill can afford it ? If not, how can a 
Boston factory manufacture Western wool and hides, and sell cloth 
and leather as cheap as they could be manufactured in the West? 
How can a Lowell mill manufacture New Orleans cotton, and sell 
goods in the West as cheap as they could be manufactured in Lou- 
isville, Cincinnati, or St. Louis ? The South and West had as well 
send all their wheat and hogs to New England, to be manufactured 
for the Southern and Western market, as their wool, and hides, and 
cotton. The one policy is as ruinous as the other. 

This is the reason our manufacturing industry has never flour- 
ished : we have sent raw material and provisions to New England, 
to enable that section to become the manufacturer for the country, — 
consequently, our manufactures could not compete with foreign 
goods in our own market. Yes ! and foreign flour would have 
driven our own from our markets, if we had sent all our wheat to 
New England, to be manufactured, and thence distributed over the 
country. And if w T e had sent our hogs there, to be made into bacon 
for home consumption, foreign bacon would have undersold ours in 
our own markets. And if we had sent our fruits and grains there 
for distillation, New England ales, and beers, and brandies, could 
not have competed with foreign liquors in Southern and Western 
markets. 

Before the war exaggerated prices, we supplied foreign markets 
with flour and bacon ; we did so by manufacturing our wheat and 
hogs where they were produced. Had we also manufactured our 
cotton, our wool, our hides, in the West, adjacent to the field of 
production, and in the midst of the supply of provisions, we should 
have supplied our own and foreign markets with shoes, and cottons, 
and woolens, also. But by locating our manufactures in New 
England, where the price of raw material and provisions was in- 
creased by the cost of transportation and the profits of speculation, 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 187 

they have been dwarfed, and rendered unable to supply our own 
market. 

Our manufacturing industry was ruined by our abnormal indus- 
trial system, — a system where manufacturers were located upon the 
extreme verge of the country — where raw products of agriculture 
were the chief commodities of commerce — where no section had a 
home market for its products — and where production and consump- 
tion, widely sundered, were both oppressed with the multiplied 
charges of speculation. 

III. The Bank and Tariff dwarfed our Manufactures by their own direct 

INFLUENCE IN RAISING THE STANDARD OF PRICES. 

We have, thus far, only considered the indirect action of the Bank 
and Tariff, in putting causes in operation, which enhanced the cost 
of manufacturers, and diverted capital and enterprise into other 
channels. This, however, gives but a very imperfect conception of 
the disastrous influence of those measures upon our manufacturing 
industry. They exerted a direct influence upon manufactures 
equally ruinous, through their specific action in raising the 
standard of prices. 

The influence of the Bank in inflating prices has already been 
noticed.. It enhanced the price of all articles of native production 
much above the specie standard. The Tariff enhanced the price of 
all products of foreign industry up to, many of them much above, 
the same level. — It is easy to show that the influence of the two, 
combined, would have a much greater effect in inflating prices, than 
either alone. If inflation of the currency raised all prices when 
foreign importations were cheap, prices would, of course, rise still 
higher, when the Tariff increased all importations to an exorbitant 
standard. Suppose that, with a specie currency and free trade, the 
farmer, the foundryman, the saw mill owner, would sell a certain 
quantity of the products of their industry for one hundred dollars; 
and the mechanic, the farm laborer, and the builder would do a 
specified amount of work, for the same price. If, now, the currency 
be inflated fifty per cent, these various classes will demand an in- 
creased price for the products of their industry ; but they will not 
raise their prices to the full standard of the currency inflation, be- 



188 the world's crisis. 

cause, free trade still existing, foreign importations are cheap, — 
they will be content with an average advance of prices of, perhaps, 
thirty-five per cent. If now the government, desirous of fostering 
home manufactures, levies a duty of fifty per cent, upon all foreign 
importations, in order to raise the price of manufactures above the 
general standard, these trades at once raise their prices to the same 
point, and one dollar and a half is charged for labor and for pro- 
ducts of industry which could at first have been obtained for one 
dollar. The general scale of prices always adjusts itself at the 
mean* between the currency inflation and the rate of duties. If it 
falls below that mean, it is because some industrial class is unduly 
oppressed. 

This is the lame feature in all protective tariffs, — they increase the 
general scale of prices in the ratio of the enhancement of the pro- 
tected goods; and consequently, they improve the condition of the 
manufacturer not at all. They increase expenses in the same ratio 
as they increase the price of manufactured goods. 

If a manufacturer is making a profit of twenty per cent, in a 
country having free trade and a specie currency — inflate the cur- 
rency fifty per cent., and give him protection by duties of fifty per 
cent, on foreign importations, and his income is just the same as be- 
fore; because his expenses are increased in the same proportion as 
his profits. But his condition is really worse than before. His 
business, true, yields him the same income. But his outlay is 
greater, and his percentage of profit less. Moreover, the purchasing 
power of his income is fifty per cent, less than before : family ex- 
penses and the cost of investments have gone up fifty per cent.; so 

* This might be illustrated at great length : If the currency be inflated fifty 
per cent, and the standard of tariff duties be fixed at the same, general prices, 
also, will advance fifty per cent, and an equipoise be established at that point. 
If the currency inflation be fifty per cent, and the average standard of tariff 
duties be twenty five per cent, prices will probably settle at an advance of forty 
per cent: if the tariff then be advanced to seventy-five per cent, the general 
6cale of prices will advance to, perhaps, over sixty per cent; and if the tariff be 
raised to one hundred percent, they will settle at an advance of about seventy- 
five per cent — The mean between the inflation of the currency and the average 
rate of duties is the point, at which the general scale of prices always inclines 
to settle. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 189 

that, if he before made $5000 annual profit on his business, he now 
requires a profit of $7,500 to place him in the same relative po- 
sition. 

This accounts for the fact that under a protective system manu- 
facturers are always demanding increased protection — higher duties. 
Every increase of the tariff raises the general scale of prices; this 
increases the expenses of their business, enhances the cost of living, 
and the price of investments, and thus makes their profits, though 
larger in amount, of less value than before. Every time government 
yields to their clamors and gives still higher duties, the general scale 
of prices is raised proportionally, and their condition is no better, 
perhaps worse, than at first. Thus the tendency of tariffs is to go 
on increasing perpetually. Every rise prepares the way for another 
rise, — and so on in endless succession. 

The only way to obviate this continual rise of prices and increase 
of duties is for capital to combine, and prevent certain classes of 
industry from raising their prices, — imposing upon them the entire 
burden of the government legislation, forcing them to accept for 
their labor, or its products, less than a fair equivalent. This method 
has been continually resorted to, in this country. The farming pop- 
ulation and the laboring class have usually been the selected victims. 
By means of combination, the rate of wages and the price of farm- 
ing produce have been kept down much below the average standard 
of prices. 

But notwithstanding these expedients, the rise of prices, conse- 
quent upon an inflated currency and high duties on importations, 
has so crippled our manufacturing interest, as to prevent its ex- 
pansion. Ever since a high tariff established them in New England, 
manufacturers have been continually clamoring for more protection ; 
and their intrigues and maneuvers to attain their aim have alter- 
nately filled the country with disgust, and distracted it with civil 
convulsion. 

It is easy to see how the general inflation of prices dwarfs man- 
ufactures, notwithstanding the increased price of goods. — (1) In the 
first place, the expense of erecting a factory is increased, — so that 
a larger capital is invested, requiring larger returns. — (2) Then, the 
expenses of carrying on the business are greatly increased, — re- 



190 

quiring a still larger income to realize the per centage upon the 
capital invested. — (3) Next, the cost of living is greatly in- 
creased, — demanding a proportional increase of profits. — (4) And 
finally, the price of investments is enhanced, — diminishing propor- 
tionally the value of the clear income left after paying all ex- 
penses. — These facts placed our manufactures located in New Eng- 
land at a disadvantage in competition with English goods, even under 
the protection of a high tariff. The force of another fact must also 
be taken into consideration, — the constant doubt respecting the con- 
tinuance of protection. This distrust combined with the disad- 
vantages of an inflation of prices, and a New England location, to 
dwarf our manufactures, and prevent their developing sufficiently 
to supply our own wants. 

To establish a high tariff is a wrong method of fostering domes- 
tic industry. All industry, especially manufacturing, flourishes 
best in the absence of taxation. Taxation is the worst adversary 
of Productive Industry. But a tariff is taxation — taxation in its 
worst form — levied upon consumption, and falling with peculiar 
weight upon productive industry. 

Our greatest advantage over England was our comparative free- 
dom from debt. This fact, with its immunity from the burden of 
taxation, would have given our industry a decided superiority in a 
competition with Great Britain. But our amateur statesmen threw 
this advantage away, and, in order to protect industry, burdened it 
with a weight of taxation as great as that imposed by the national 
debt of England, — and taxation in its most oppressive form — levied 
by a tariff, and falling especially upon the industrial and producing 
classes, and passing directly into prices and enhancing them to a 
ruinous extent. 

By locating our factories in New England, the Tariff deprived 
them of all advantage over England in respect of a supply of pro- 
visions and raw material. And by its heavy duties, it levied a 
heavier taxation upon our industry than the British government im- 
posed on our rivals. 

This subject might be illustrated at much greater length; but as 
it will again recur in another connection, it may be dismissed, for 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 191 

the present. The whole argument may be summed up in a sen- 
tence : — Under the inflation of prices fostered by the Bank and 
Tariff, our manufactures could not compete with those of England, 
because the essentials to success, — cheap labor, cheap provisions, 
and cheap raw material, were no longer present. 



To recapitulate : Our manufacturing industry has been dwarfed : — 

1. By the location of the manufactories in New England, at a dis- 
tance from the supply of provisions and raw material ; 

2. By the abnormal industrial system which consequently sprung 
up ; increasing prices by the charges of speculation, and diverting 
capital, to real estate speculations, and to the various departments 
of enterprise incident to the interchange between the sections ; 

3. By the specific action of the Bank and Tariff in inflating prices. 

Or, to arrange the causes more systematically, our manufacturing 
industry has been injured : — 

1. By the greater cost of manufacturing; incident to, — 

(1) The great distance of the New England factories from the 

supply of provisions and raw material ; 

(2) An inflation of prices ; caused by, — 

a. The inflated paper currency ; 

b. The taxation of the government imposed through a 

tariff, which greatly enhanced the cost of foreign im- 
portations. 

c. The charges of speculation. 

2. By the higher profits required by manufacturers ; — 

(1) To meet the increased expense of living, incident to the 

inflation of prices ; 

(2) To equalize their clear profits, with — 

a. The increased value of investments, under the inflation 

of prices; and 

b. The profits of speculation in real estate, and in agricul- 

tural produce. 

3. By the diversion of capital, enterprise, and population from 

manufactures ; — 
(1) To engage in speculation in real estate ; 



192 the world's crisis. 

(2) To be invested in some branch of business connected with 
the traffic in produce between the sections. 

And all these causes may be traced directly to the agency of the 
Bank and Tariff, either separately, or combined. 

1. The Bank counteracted the establishment of manufactures in 
the West, by its inflation of prices, and by concentrating capital on 
the seaboard; and it, jointly with the Tariff, located them in New 
England, by offering an extravagant bonus to manufactures, and by 
lavishing loans upon New England manufacturing companies. 

2. They jointly co-operated in building up the abnormal indus- 
trial system, in which no section had a home market for its products 
but exported them to the others, by creating in the East a demand 
for Western products ; this launched the West upon a course of fac- 
titious prosperity, diverting emigration to it, instead of the South ; — 
this caused the South, also, through the inadequacy of its industry 
to supply the cotton market, to remain dependent upon the West for 
agricultural supplies. Thus, this abnormal industrial system em- 
barked the West in the production and transportation of supplies, 
instead of manufacturing ; and developed the speculation in real 
estate and agricultural produce, which operated so disastrously upon 
manufacturing industry. 

3. And finally, they both co-operated in furthering the general 
inflation of prices, by inflating the currency, and by raising immod- 
erately the price of all imported articles of foreign production. 

These measures are responsible for the unfortunate location, the 
abnormal industrial system, the inflation of prices, which, in their 
combined influence, kept our manufactures in a feeble condition, 
and prevented the country from entering upon a career of industrial 
grandeur. If our exotic manufactures have not been able to with- 
stand foreign competition, never, with all our protection, growing 
sufficiently to supply even our home demand ; if, instead of becom- 
ing manufacturers for the world, we have remained the satellite of 
British industry, importing so largely as to keep continually in 
debt, and fostering the grandeur of England with resources whose 
profits should have been all our own, — the responsibility, the blame 
of all, rests with the Bank and Tariff. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 193 



CHAPTER III. 

INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM IN PERVERTING OUR 

SOCIAL LIFE. 

TnE social evils to which our abnormal Industrial System has 
given birth, will be treated of at large in another connection, when 
we come to consider the effect of our unconstitutional course upon 
the world. We shall, therefore, in this chapter, give only such a 
brief notice of the social demoralization in our own country, wrought 
by our industrial system, as will enable us to comprehend the dis- 
astrous influence it exerted upon our political career. 

The social evils under which the United States have suffered, 
may be classed under two general heads. 

1. An all-pervading social excitement. 

2. The oppression of the industrial population. 

We shall treat of the social evils consequent upon our abnormal 
industrial system, under these two heads. 

Sect. I. — Social Excitement Resultant from our Abnormal, 
forced Industrial System. 

The social life of a country is, perhaps, more dependent upon 
industrial, than moral causes. 

In eras of industrial stagnation, social movement is heavy, some- 
times wholly dormant. It requires the stimulus of industry and 
commercial activity, to awaken the mind from torpor, and quicken 
social life into activity. — In every age commerce and social activity 
have found cotemporaneous development. The location of the 
Chosen People on the Syrian coast, in juxtaposition with the active 
commerce of Phoenicia, was not a fortuitous event. The mind of 
Judea, which the institutions of Sinai vainly leavened, awoke from 
its lethargy at the quickening touch of commerce ; the social move- 
ment in Palestine dates from the age when association with Phoeni- 
cian commerce infused it with vigor. The commerce with the East, 
13 



194 

transferred to the Greeks by the destruction of Tyre by the Baby- 
lonians, gave birth to thought and social movement in Greece. 
Christianity could not prevent the decline of Roman civilization, 
when, owing rather to industrial than political causes, the traffic 
between Europe and the East declined, and the electric influence of 
commerce no longer thrilled the pulses of society. The first faint 
glow that ruddied the gloom of the Dark Ages, streamed from the 
reviving commerce of the Italian cities and those of the Hanseatic 
League. 

In past ages, the danger to social life lay in the torpor incident 
to a want of commercial activity. In our age of commerce, this 
danger is past ; social movement is threatened from the opposite 
quarter. Commercial activity is now so great as to fever the pulses 
of social life. It is the great necessity of social advancement, now, 
to restrict commerce within proper bounds, and prevent it from gen- 
erating such excessive social excitement as to unhinge the mind of 
the age, and make it the prey of fitful, feverish impulses, wayward 
fantasies, and fierce, ungovernable passions. 

The world has already suffered from the excessive social excite- 
ment caused by this age of commerce ; our own country, more than 
any other. Every observer must be struck with the feverish state 
of the public mind all over Christendom, and, perhaps, perplexed to 
assign the cause. The cause lies in the excited commerce of the 
age, which has overstepped its proper limits. Manufactured arti- 
cles and tropical products would give to commerce a wholesome 
activity ; but now a boundless interchange of raw agricultural pro- 
ducts has stimulated it into unhealthy excitement. It must be re- 
duced within proper limits, or mankind will drift on to social and 
moral shipwreck. 

The United States has suffered more severely from the social ex- 
citement, prevalent in our age, than any other country; for the causes 
in which it originated had a more intense action here. We suffered, 
not only from the intense commercial activity appertaining to the 
general international traffic of the age ; but, also, from the preterna- 
tural excitement of our own abnormal traffic between the sections. 

Our Industrial System dwarfed our manufactures, and preyed 
upon our entire productive industry. A swarm of speculators alone 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 195 

throve under it. They rendered the entire industry of the country 
subservient to their aggrandizement, and monopolized and engrossed 
its wealth. 

The facilities for acquisition in the various departments of traffic 
and speculation have been unprecedented. An unparalleled business 
excitement has kept the public mind in a state of fevered agita- 
tion ; — an agitation far exceeding that attendant upon ordinary 
business, intensified by the cares and vicissitudes, the hopes and 
apprehensions, incident to speculation. 

This mania for speculative gains has drawn into its vortex the 
best intellect of the country. An excessive importance is attached 
to wealth. In other countries, pride of birth and pride of talent 
modify the estimate in which mere wealth is held. The aristocracy 
of blood and talent hold precedence of the aristocracy of wealth. 
But, in America, Wealth reigns supreme. It is the criterion of 
social position, and despite the protests of religion, it is held the 
chief good. The intellect of the country has accepted the prevail- 
ing idea, and devotes all its powers to acquisition. Speculation 
and traffic open to intelligence and enterprise a hundred avenues to 
fortune, and the facility of acquisition has tempted the best intellect 
of the country to turn aside from the sphere of thought, to engage 
in active business. 

Every one must remark to how low a standard the scale of intel- 
lect engaged in public life has dwindled, since the first age of the 
republic. Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Marshall, were worthily suc- 
ceeded by Adams, Webster, Calhoun, Clay : some of the older states- 
men of the present age evince some degree of the mind that once 
illustrated our history; men of most decided talent are seen here 
and there, struggling amid the mass of mediocrity; but the mind 
of the present generation is to be found in counting rooms. Every 
one must be struck with the intellectual character of an assembly 
of merchants. A convention of the merchants of any of our large 
cities would compare favorably with an assemblage of lawyers or 
divines, or with the Congress of the United States. The mind, the 
enterprise of the country has gone to the merchants' desk, leaving 
the learned professions and political life to intellects of inferior 
order, — too often mere adventurers, who are influenced in their 



196 the world's crisis. 

choice, more by a want of capital to engage in business, than a 
generous ambition for distinction. 

Alas for a country whose noblest minds are absorbed in trade ! 
Where intellect turns from the lofty walks of thought, to quench 
the light of its spirit in the details of traffic, some mighty cause 
must have wrenched society from its moorings, and launched it 
upon an abnormal career. 

But this mania after wealth is not the worst incident to the busi- 
ness excitement that has pervaded the country; it has generated 
a general social excitement that threatens to unmoor society. The 
steps by which this social excitement arose may be easily traced. 
Money, easily obtained in speculation, was lightly spent in frivolity 
and display. Boundless extravagance reigned, everywhere. The 
calm of home life was lost. The calls of business constantly drew 
merchant and speculator away from home to distant parts of the 
country; the claims of fashion required a scale of expenditure 
many were unable to meet ; indolence induced others to shrink 
from household cares. Thus many for sake of convenience, many 
from motives of economy, many from love of ease, abandoned home 
with its comforts, its retirements and repose, to become occupants 
of luxurious hotels and crowded boarding-houses. The mind 
oppressed with business cares found no quiet home atmosphere in 
which to recuperate its energies, and came to seek relief from over- 
powering anxiety in scenes of gayety and dissipation. Business 
excitement was followed by the excitement of society. Fashionable 
dissipation became with many the great occupation of city life, to 
which business was rendered subsidiary. The winters were spent 
in a whirl of fashionable excitement, the summers at places of fash- 
ionable resort. 

The contagion of frivolity extended even to the laboring classes. 
Too busy during the week to spare time for gayety, the Sab- 
bath was desecrated by the balls and pleasure excursions of the 
poor. 

The duties and responsibilities of life seemed forgotten by all 
classes, in the universal whirl of dissipation. The Northern cities 
gave tone to the social life of the country, — and what an influence 
did they exert ! They were hotbeds of the opposite vices of wealth 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 197 

and poverty, centers of fashionable dissipation, and dens of fester- 
ing crime! The rich, engaged in speculation, greedy of gain, 
corrupted by acquisition ; the poor, composed largely of vicious 
foreigners, generally infidel, and regardless of moral obligation: 
the wealthy, employing the easily-acquired fruits of speculation in 
ostentation and frivolity ; the poor, smitten with the contagion of 
pleasure and extravagance, wasting their small earnings in scenes 
of debauch and low amusement. High and low were engaged in 
the same round of excitement, avarice, and dissipation. 

Under such circumstances the mind loses its calmness, the moral 
perceptions their tone. A general demoralization of thought and 
sentiment prevails. The jaded powers become vitiated, from over- 
excitement and want of repose. The excited intellect ponders im- 
possible theories of progress ; the imagination revels in wild tales 
of crime and passion ; a weak sentimentalism usurps the place of 
genuine emotion ; the moral sense, yielding to the universal excite- 
ment, requires stronger stimulants than the sober claims of duty, 
and seeks its aliment in visionary schemes of moral and social ad- 
vancement, and, lost in the mazes of capricious fancy, forgets the 
cardinal principles of virtue — " To do justly, to love mercy, and to 
walk humbly with God." — The social excitement extends to the 
house of God. Religion becomes a sentiment, instead of a prin- 
ciple; the speculations of philosophy and the suggestions of a de- 
ranged benevolence are placed above the obligations of the Divine 
Word; the laws of Jehovah are contemned in the name of religion; 
appeals to an abnormal benevolence displace the earnest presenta- 
tion of immutable truth ; Philanthropy overshadows Faith, even in 
the Sanctuary. 

Our country has suffered from all these symptoms of morbid ex- 
citement. The North and the South have both suffered, though in 
a different manner, from the excessive excitement of the age. 

The excited social life of the North has been the fruitful hot-bed 
of a multitude of "Isms." The floodgates have been opened to the 
speculations of an excited moral sentimentalism, and they have 
overborne all barriers, and overflowed the land with spurious reforms, 
and crazed moral and social innovations. The more insane the fancy, 
the more numerous its votaries. Spiritualism, Mormonism, Four- 



198 the world's crisis. 

ierism, Parkerism, Woman's Rights, Free Love,, and various forms 
of Deism, have more votaries, there, than in all the -world beside. 
Epicureanism has become the prevailing type of action and of 
thought. Present enjoyment is regarded as the highest philosophy. 
In search of the gratification of sense vailed beneath high-sounding 
phrases of social advancement, many have discarded the guidance 
of revelation, many the restraints of moral obligation. Among 
the refined and cultivated, irreligion prevails to a great extent 
cloaked in the semblance of philanthropy and exalted sentiment; 
among the ignorant and the degraded, infidelity and atheism are 
openly avowed, and vice stalks unmasked. 

The facilities for communication, and the channels of trade have 
brought city and country into close contact, and diffused the moral 
taint that corrupts excited social life in the cities throughout the 
land. They are the centers of influence. The wealth, the enter- 
prise, the talent of the land, are concentrated in them. The rural 
population does not come in contact with their refinement, and their 
virtue. These — and there is much of both in the cities — exert little 
influence upon the rural population. But their avarice, their ex- 
travagance and ostentation, their false sentimentality and irreligion, 
their vice, their infidelity, their atheism, are patent; and foster de- 
pravity of sentiment and morals, throughout the entire community. 

The social life of the North has suffered from the over-excitement 
of speculation, which massed wealth in cities, and fostered extrav- 
agance and dissipation, gendering a degree of excitability, social, 
and industrial, which unbalanced the public mind, and subjected it 
to the sway of every gust of excitement. The South suffered from 
the same social excitement, but, under the peculiar condition of that 
section, it assumed a different form. A cultivated agricultural pop- 
ulation has constituted the center of social life in the South. So far 
from being influenced by the cities, sober country manners have 
modified the tone of city life. Hence, the "Isms" of the North, — 
the froth of a seething social caldron, have obtained no footing in 
the South. That section suffered from the fiercer, moodier excite- 
ment germinated in social isolation. If the attrition of social ac- 
tivity excited the Northern mind to the verge of mania; the Southern 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 199 

mind was equally diseased with the vices of solitude, — pride, and 
haughty self-assertion. Renconters and feuds were constant inci- 
dents of Southern social life. Southern society was a mass of 
units, where each preserved his isolation and individuality. It was 
composed of clashing, rather than commingling elements, — an 
assemblage of barons, each absolute lord of the servants on his es- 
tate, and exacting from all he met the punctilious courtesy due by 
the usages of chivalry to his station. 

But extremes meet. As in the North, so in the South, the charm 
of home life was lost. The plantation was too often merely the 
place of business, where there was no home life, no social circle. 
However dissimilar in everything else, the 'city speculator and 
the Southern planter were alike in their extravagance and their 
fondness of fashionable dissipation. The denizen of the city, whose 
home life is destroyed in the whirl of dissipation, and the planter, 
whose home life is marred for want of social contact, alike flit from 
home, to meet in crowded places of fashionable resort, where re- 
flection is drowned in frivolty. In the South, as in the North, the 
Industrial System broke up home ties, and fostered dissipation, ex- 
travagance, and excitement. 

Sect. 2. Oppression of the Industrial Population through our 
Abnormal Industrial System. 

Social advancement cannot co-exist with the oppression of the 
working class of society. Poverty is debasing. When life is ren- 
dered a dreary struggle for existence, the elasticity necessary to 
social elevation is crushed out of the soul. Self-respect and hope 
are the chief elements of individual development. The causes which 
impair the force of these traits of character strike at the foundation 
of all social advancement, and necessarily tend to the demoralization 
of the great mass of society. 

Our industrial system has oppressed the working class through- 
out the country. Excessively high prices were universal. We do 
not speak of the present inflation of prices, which enhances the 
cost of all articles of necessity to a point far above the standard of 
prices in any other country. Even in the past, our industrial sys- 



200 

tern, and the measures of government, established prices at a very 
high standard, to the injury of the industrious working population. 
With our fertile soil and sparse population, the cost of living ought 
to have been as cheap with us as in any country in the world. But, 
on the contrary, living has been cheaper in the densely populated 
countries of Continental Europe; cheaper, even in England, the 
manufacturer and commercial agent of mankind, which imports pro- 
visions from all the world. In no country on earth has the cost of 
living been so great as in the United States. 

Our industrial system enhanced the price of all articles, beyond 
measure. These prices were little felt by the capitalists who reaped 
the profits of the system : but they ground the laboring class into 
the dust, depriving them of many comforts, and consigning them to 
hopeless poverty. 

I. The Oppression op Northern Labor. 

1st. The Farming Population. 

The Northern farmer, cultivating his fields with his own hands, 
was at least independent. The friendly soil repaid his industry with 
abundance, and speculation could only lay its grasp upon his sur- 
plus crops. 

Where surplus crops were carried so far to market as with us, all 
connected with the business were necessarily pinched. With his 
profits diminished by speculation, the farmer who employed assist- 
ants could afford them but scanty wages. Speculation on agricul- 
tural produce ground millions of our farm laborers in hopeless 
poverty. 

But these at least lived in abundance. 

2d. City Laborers. 

The laboring class of the cities felt the full pressure of high 
prices and scanty wages. 

The profits which various speculators reaped upon the commodi- 
ties they transported to market raised the price, necessarily, to a 
point which rendered it necessary to economize the labor employed 
in transportation. The rate of wages was fixed at a standard lower 
than the general scale of prices prevailing in the country. All 
articles of consumption were so high that many of the comforts of 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 201 

life were placed beyond the reach of the laboring masses. - While 
their wages seemed to be liberal, compared with the general scale 
of prices, they were, in many instances, scarcely equal to the rate 
of wages in Europe/ In prosperous business times, a healthy la- 
borer was pinched to meet his expenses ; and the many fluctuations 
and financial crises, incident to the abnormal condition of business, 
pressed upon the laboring poor of our cities, with ruinous effect. 
The System which crowded them in dense masses in cities, and 
stinted their wages, while it inflated the cost of all articles of con- 
sumption, was an unhappy one for the poor of our cities ; but the 
periodical crisis it involved, crushed them in remediless misery. 



3d. The Factory 

Of all the victims of our Industrial System, perhaps the factory 
operatives of New England, were the greatest sufferers. 

The New England manufacturer was oppressed by the unavoid- 
able drawback of his remote locality ; the inflation of prices caused 
by the Bank, increased the pressure ; the tariff by which the gov- 
ernment sought to counterbalance his disadvantages, increased his 
expenses yet more ; and the excessive charges of speculation 
weighed him down with accumulated embarrassments. He could 
not manufacture at all without protection; and protection hardly 
equalized the price of his fabrics with the general inflation of prices 
induced by tariff, paper money, and speculation. He was driven to 
the most rigid economy in the management of his business. He 
could only offer wages sufficient to subsist females, and he exacted 
of them a greater amount of toil than the most hardy constitution 
could endure. Fourteen hours a day in the hot, close atmosphere 
of crowded mills, soon outwearied the delicate female frame. But 
their scanty wages compelled unremitting toil, and when exhausted 
nature could do no more, they were fortunate if the pittance saved 
from their wages kept them from the poor-house until death termi- 
nated their sufferings. In the West, manufactures would have been 
consistent with the happiness of the operatives; in New England, 
they could only be sustained at the price of human wretchedness. 
They crushed out the happiness and the life of the bond-women of 
Poverty, whom Necessity made the Slaves of the Loom. 



202 the world's crisis. 

The anxieties, struggles, and sufferings of these various classes 
of laboring population were incompatible with social improvement. 
Where nature is overtasked, and life is spent in privation, waging 
an unequal struggle with adversity, often ending in destitution and 
beggary, the elements essential to social improvement are crushed 
out of the character. 

II. Oppression op Southern Labor. 

The laboring classes of the South were equally removed from the 
comfort and content essential to social progress. 

There, the poor white led a life of listless apathy, bearing with indif- 
ference the distresses of a condition he could hardly hope to improve. 

But the black population of the South were especially the victims 
of the industrial system fostered by the Bank and Tariff. 

They were happy and contented, before, in their relations with an 
hereditary owner. Their labor was chiefly devoted to the produc- 
tion of supplies for their own consumption. It was a patriarchal 
relation, with care and protection on the one part, repaid with rev- 
erential trust on the other. The servant was scarcely ever sold, 
and each generation strengthened the clannish ties of this family 
relation. But the abnormal course of industry on which the coun- 
try was launched, severed all these ties. It gave rise to the slave 
trade between the states, and inflicted upon the negro population of 
the South untold wretchedness. 

We have seen how a normal state of industry would have drained 
the Southern border states of their slave population, through emi- 
gration to the Southern states ; and, how easy the lot of the slave 
in the cotton states would have been when all articles of consump- 
tion were produced at home, cotton being grown only as an extra 
crop. There would have been no slave-trade, then, between the 
states — no severe, oppressive labor — no cruelty — no privation ; and 
the institution would have progressed through a mild career to in- 
evitable extinction. 

But the sudden change in the relative condition of the South and 
the West which the Tariff wrought, prevented all this. Emigration 
to the South in great measure ceased. The demand in the South for 
negro labor was no longer supplied by that means. But the demand 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 203 

for cotton was continually increasing, with a consequent demand for 
increased labor to be devoted to its production. A brisk market 
was thus created in the Southern states for slaves, and, in many in- 
stances, the slaveholder on worn out lands in the border states sold 
his slaves, and invested the proceeds in Western enterprise or spec- 
ulation. It became the custom upon the death of a farmer, instead 
of dividing the servants among the heirs, to expose them at public 
sale to the highest bidder; — scenes from which the slave trader was 
rarely absent. The negro trade between the states grew into col- 
lossal proportions, and fortified slavery in all the border states. At 
length the raising of negroes for the Southern market became a 
regular feature of industry in some of the border states ; the farmer 
finding it profitable, by this means, to remain on exhausted lands, 
which he must otherwise have abandoned. The slave traffic, with 
all its abuses and horrors, was a necessary consequence of the 
course of industry induced by the Bank and Tariff. 

By diverting emigration from the South to the Western states, it 
caused the border state farmer to sell, and the Southern planter to 
buy the negroes that emigration ought to have carried to the South. 

This factitious course of industry darkened slavery with horrors 
not necessarily its own. 

In the border states, the slave trade destroyed the clannish rela- 
tion that had formerly obtained, uniting superior and dependent in 
ties which ameliorated the institution by kindly interest on the 
one side, and the attached defference, on the other, which once bound 
the feudal retainer to his liege. The master came to regard the 
servant merely in the property aspect, as a chattel to be bought and 
sold. The rise of the slave trade thrilled the negroes of the border 
states with horror. In their minds " Down the River " was a Pan- 
demonium, of which the Negro Trader was presiding demon. A 
thrill of sympathy greeted every unfortunate torn from his home to 
be sent to the cotton plantations. The negro throughout the border 
states came to regard himself, not as a dependent, but as merchand- 
ise; and, with this conviction, came a brooding sense of injustice 
to displace the confiding trust of former years. The slave traffic to 
the South sundered forever the kindly relations in the border states 
which had prevailed between the negro and his superior. 



204 THE world's crisis. 

In the South, the influence of this system upon the condition of 
the negro was yet more disastrous. Instead of living with his 
hereditary superior, surrounded with abundance, and only partially 
engaged in the production of cotton as a surplus crop, as would 
have been the case if industry and emigration had been left by the 
government in their normal channels, all was reversed. The want 
of immigration, and the inability of the planters to purchase slaves in 
sufficient numbers to supply the cotton demand, prevented any consid- 
erable diversion of force from the cotton crop. The planter devoted 
his entire attention to the culture of cotton, purchasing all his sup- 
plies. His business was a speculation, whose profits lay in the 
excess of income over outlay; and, naturally, the income was 
increased, and the outlay diminished, to the utmost limit. The 
planter was constantly in debt for negroes purchased in advance 
of his returns, and felt impelled by debt to carry out the system 
essential to his balance sheet. The negro was heavily tasked, and 
closely stinted, — a condition inconsistent with his well-being, under 
which life must often have been a burden. 

Thus the warped industry of the country reacted upon its social 
life, and caused general disorganization. It built up a haughty 
aristocracy in both sections ; it maddened the popular mind with 
industrial, and social excitement; it plunged whole classes in hope- 
less wretchedness : oppressing alike the poor whites, and the humble 
negroes of the South ; the toiling laborers of Northern cities ; and 
the fragile operatives of New England mills. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 205 



CHAPTER IV. 

INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM IN EXCITING POLITI- 
CAL ANIMOSITIES. 

Two grand issues have embittered American politics : adminis- 
trative policy, as involved in the Bank, Tariff, and Internal Improve- 
ments ; and the Slavery question. 

Both these issues had origin in the collisions between the Fed- 
eralist and Republican parties ; and both, in their progress, excited 
new passions, which culminated in civil war. 

The Bank and Tariff questions were the legacy of the War with 
England. That contest broke down our finances, making the Bank 
a necessity, in the minds of many, for the restoration of financial 
vigor. The debt occasioned by the War also necessitated heavy 
duties for revenue purposes ; and the hostility to England it in- 
spired, caused the statesmen of the country to regard with satisfac- 
tion the protection thus incidentally afforded to native industry. 
The same hostility to England, combined with the fear of meeting 
their adversaries upon the issue, influenced the Republicans to yield 
to the popular clamor for relief, and commit the party to the Bank, 
Tariff, and Internal Improvements. But for the War with England, 
those measures would never have been brought into issue ; and the 
country would have escaped the evils which have rendered our his- 
tory, for forty years, so full of convulsion. 

The struggle between the old Federalist and Republican parties 
proved the origin of the Slavery agitations also. The annexation 
of Texas, in 1844, with its immediate consequences, fanned the 
Slavery agitation into vigor, and became the direct cause of the 
recent civil war. And the annexation of Texas, and the Mexican 
war, and all the resultant consequences, had origin in the transfer 
of Texas to Spain, in 1819. 

In 1819, anti-slavery excitement ran high in the North, pending 
the admission of Missouri as a state into the Union, The Federal- 
ists were active in fostering the agitation, as a means of regaining 



206 the world's crisis. 

political ascendency. The Republicans were anxious, above all 
things, to allay this excitement, which their adversaries were seek- 
ing to turn to their own advantage. Pending this question, the 
boundary of the Louisiana territory came up for adjustment with 
Spain. Spain had no claim to Texas east of the Neuces, and was 
astonished when Monroe offered that territory up to the Sabine, as 
a donation. The clue to this singular alienation of territory is 
found in the anxiety of the Republican leaders to soothe the anti- 
slavery excitement of the North, by the cession of Southern terri- 
tory, and thus prevent the exciting question from militating against 
the re-election of Monroe, in the pending presidential election of 
1820. 

As already stated, this cession of Texas to Spain proved, after- 
ward, the origin of the Slavery excitement fomented by the re- 
annexation of Texas and its attendant circumstances, — which ulti- 
mately led to civil- war. But, though the reannexation of Texas 
fomented the agitation, it was the American System which gave 
it birth, and forced it to its fatal culmination. All the great 
political evils from which the country has suffered, took their 
origin, and found their aliment in causes originated by the Ameri- 
can System. 

To trace the operation of these causes is the object of the pres- 
ent chapter. 

Sect. I. The American System the prolific Source op Politi- 
cal Evils. 

In the germ of the American System, its evil tendencies were 
unperceived. Mr. Calhoun, in 1816, co-operated with Mr. Clay in 
promoting the passage of the Bank and Tariff; and, during the few 
following years, he committed himself so thoroughly to measures of 
Internal Improvement, as to become a favorite with the great, pro- 
tectionist state of Pennsylvania. 

But previous to 1824, when an increased tariff was proposed, the 
South became alarmed. The tendency of the measure was per- 
ceived, and the planting interest of the South allied itself with the 
shipping interest of New England, to oppose the Tariff act. Their 
united strength was sufficient to defeat the bill. But a defection 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 207 

of Southern votes carried the measure, by very small majorities, 
through both houses of Congress. The votes of Andrew Jackson 
and his colleague from Tennessee carried it in the Senate ; and the 
votes of six Southern representatives from districts where the agri- 
cultural interest predominated over the planting carried the measure 
in the House of Representatives. 

New England promptly engaged in manufactures, and became, in 
consequence, committed to the Tariff. The South now stood alone, 
in opposition to the measure. 

In a few years, it was found that, in the universal inflation of 
prices, caused by the Bank and Tariff, together with the prevailing 
spirit of speculation, the protection afforded by the tariff of 1824 
was inadequate to yield sufficient dividends to factories laboring 
under the disadvantages of a New England location. In 1828, it 
w ? as proposed to increase the duties, so as to afford additional pro- 
tection. The measure provoked the vehement opposition of the 
South, and excitement ran so high as to menace the integrity of the 
Union. The North was so thoroughly devoted to protection, and 
the South was so embittered against it, that a rupture seemed im- 
minent. 

In the midst of this excitement the presidential election of 1828 
occurred. Adams w r as thoroughly committed to protection, and if 
the election had turned on that issue he would have been elected 
President. But Jackson, also, was a protectionist. His vote for 
the Tariff of 1824 recommended him in the states where the Tariff 
was popular ; and, though he had recommitted himself to the policy 
of protection pending the presidential election, the South preferred 
him, as more favorable than Adams to its interests. Northern votes 
were given him, as a decided advocate of protection : the South 
supported him, as the most moderate protectionist that could be 
elected in the prevailing temper of the public mind. 

I. The Contest over the American System during the Administration op 

Jackson. 

The Administration of Jackson was the grandest political epic in 
history. Giant systems were in conflict, assailed and defended by 
Titans. Our limits will not allow us to detail the tactics which 



208 THE world's crisis. 

party skill brought to bear upon the issues involved ; nor, to trace 
the vicissitudes of the conflict : we can only take into view those 
decisive acts on which the victory turned. 

The electoral vote cast for Andrew Jackson indicated the stormy 
administration that was to ensue. He was elected, receiving one 
hundred and seventy-eight votes. Of this number, one vote was 
cast by a New England state ; the rest were cast, half, by tariff, and 
half, by anti-tariff states. The electoral vote showed that the sup- 
porters of the President were equally divided upon the great ques- 
tions of the day. 

It showed another fact : Adams received eighty votes, all of them 
cast by tariff states; and eighty-nine of the votes cast for Jackson 
were from tariff states ; so that, out of two hundred and sixty-one 
electoral votes, one hundred and seventy-two were favorable to the 
Tariff, and only eighty-nine opposed to it. The supporters of the 
Tariff outnumbered their opponents, nearly two to one. 

1st. Tactics of the Opposing Parties. 

The tactics of the Administration and the Opposition parties were 
such as might be expected from the exigencies of their respective 
positions. 

The Opposition, or Adams party, was an unit upon the Tariff 
question : the party of the Administration was^ equally divided upon 
it. It was the policy of the Opposition to rend the Administration 
party, by making the Tariff and Internal Improvement questions 
the prominent issues of the day. Every vote upon those questions 
severed the friends of the President ; one portion voting with the 
Opposition in favor of the policy, the other, furiously opposing it. 
Every bill submitted to the President compelled him, either to 
offend his Southern friends, by signing it, or to alienate his North- 
ern and Western supporters by a veto. 

This was a masterly policy, and it had every prospect of success. 
The position of Jackson at the head of a party, which agreed on no 
prominent question, and whose only bond of union was devotion 
to their chief, seemed well nigh desperate. 

But, with the eye of a military leader, Jackson seized the points 
of the situation. He perceived, both his weakness, and strength ; 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 209 

and lie sought by every means to avail himself of his advantages, to 
the utmost, and to remedy, as far as possible, the weak points of his 
position. His strength lay in the influence of the executive ; he 
was himself the sole bond of union between the antagonistic ele- 
ments of his motley supporters. His weakness consisted, first, in 
the division of his party upon the vital issues of the day; and. 
secondly, in the danger of being thought by his Northern friends 
unduly influenced by his Southern feelings in favor of that wing of 
his party. 

The policy of Jackson embraced three points. 

1st. To strengthen, as far as possible, the influence of the exec- 
utive : 

2d. To divert attention from the Tariff and Internal Improvement 
questions, by bringing forward a new issue; and, 

3d. To take effectual measures, to prevent his being held com- 
mitted to the extreme Southern party. 

These three points furnish the key to the policy of Jackson's first 
term of office. The policy was a masterly one, considered merely 
with an eye to the present exigencies which dictated it ; it countered 
the difficulties of his position with the decision that always brings 
victory : but the measures, to which he was driven by the danger- 
ous position in which the Tariff and Internal Improvement questions 
placed him, were, some of them, productive of the greatest evils to 
the country. 

1. It was his first aim, to strengthen the power of the executive. 

He was the sole bond of union in his party ; it was necessary to 
increase his influence to the utmost. His party had no common 
views of policy ; it was necessary to bind it together by the cohe- 
sive ties of interest. Jackson fortified himself, by distributing the 
offices of the country among his partisans, binding them to his ad- 
ministration, in the absence of political principles, by personal ties. 
Hence originated the policy of Rotation in office. It was an inno- 
vation ; — but it was necessary to the existence of his administration ; 
and, with characteristic boldness, Jackson adopted it. It provoked 
severe animadversion ; but Jackson was indifferent to this ; indeed, 
he rather desired it, as it turned attention from the weak points of 
14 



210 the world's crisis. 

his administration. Jackson cut off the heads of office-holders, on 
the same principle that Alcibiades cut off the tail of his dog, — that 
while his enemies were abusing him for this, they might overlook 
more serious points of weakness. Besides, it afforded one issue, 
upon which his incongruous party could agree. However they 
differed upon all political measures, they were united in supporting 
the course of their chief, in rewarding their devotion with the emol- 
uments of office. Nothing but this policy could have saved the ad- 
ministration of Jackson from overthrow. Had he pursued the 
policy of his predecessors, in leaving the offices of the country to 
their incumbents without regard to their politics, the efforts of tbe 
Opposition would have sundered his. party upon the Tariff and 
Internal Improvement questions ; his administration would have 
proved an ignominious failure ; the government would have fallen 
into the hands of the party of Latitudinarian construction thor- 
oughly reunited ; the country would have been divided upon a 
sectional line; and, if we may judge from the excitement that pre- 
ceded his first election, and that which followed his second, the 
danger of disunion would have been imminent. 

But the system of Rotation in office then inaugurated, became 
the source, subsequently, of the greatest abuses. The offices of the 
country became the prizes of every presidential contest. Politics 
were degraded into a scramble for place. Corruption in public life 
became the rule, and extended its influence from the highest to the 
humblest aspirants after place. Presidential elections increased in 
excitement, from the increase of executive power, and from the 
heated passions of partisans fired, less by devotion to principle, 
than by considerations of interest. When politics were degraded 
into a trade, many of the noblest minds of the country turned from 
political life, and readily yielded to the tendency of industry, and 
engaged in business pursuits. The government was left, in the 
main, to third rate men, who, without intellect, culture, or ambition, 
to aspire to the eminence of statesmanship, were conveniently en- 
dowed with moral sensibilities too obtuse to be shocked by prevail- 
ing corruption, and the low, but grasping ambition which looks for 
its appropriate reward in the emoluments of office. 

The innovation which Jackson introduced, can be excused only 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 211 

on the plea that it saved the country from greater evils than it 
inflicted; that if it debased politics, and corrupted public and so- 
cial life, it yet arrested tendencies which were rushing the country 
toward the vortex of disunion. 

2. It was the aim of the President, to divert attention from the 
dangerous issues on which his party was equally divided, by thrust- 
ing a new issue upon the public mind. 

The popularity of a chief, though backed by unlimited patronage, 
can never maintain a political party. A party must have principles, 
and a policy. In the existing posture of affairs, no policy could be 
assumed upon the Tariff and Internal Improvement questions. In- 
deed, if they remained the prominent questions of the day, not 
even the personal popularity of Jackson, supported by the patron- 
age of the government, could prevent the administration party from 
dividing on a sectional line. Some other issue must be found, on 
which the friends of the administration might more generally unite. 
Opposition to the United States Bank would be a policy popular in 
itself, and safe from sectional passions. It would be generally pop- 
ular with the Southern friends of the Administration ; while the in- 
terests of the North were not so deeply involved as to prevent the 
masses from rallying in support of the administration, on the ques- 
tion. Jackson, with profound sagacity, resolved to waive a decla- 
ration of policy in respect of the Tariff and Internal Improvement 
questions ; and, maintaining, as far as possible, a strict neutrality 
upon those issues, to make opposition to the United States Bank 
the policy of his administration. Upon this issue, he resolved to 
build up his party. 

He lost no time in carrying out his policy. 

The charter of the Bank had yet six years to run, when Jackson 
was elected. It was premature to take ground against it, with a 
view to practical action. Yet, in his first message to Congress, 
Jackson issued a fulmination against the Bank. 

This was attributed by his opponents, as all his other measures 
were, to personal pique. It was their policy to- decry his political 
ability, and attribute all his acts to the headstrong passions of the 
military chieftain. Jackson suffered them thus to deceive them- 



212 THE world's crisis. 

selves, and the public. It better suited bis purposes to have bis acts 
deemed the results of headlong impulse, than of deliberate policy. 
The people, who would have jealously watched an astute Machiavel, 
were ready to applaud the honest, passionate old warrior who cared 
nothing for policy, but was ruled by the warm impulses of his heart, 
always ready to do every thing to help a friend, or crush a foe. 
His friends, also, regarding his hostility to the Bank merely as a 
personal matter, could justify themselves in supporting both the 
president, and the institution ; while, had his opposition been re- 
garded as the result of deliberate, calculating policy, it must have 
occasioned a breach between the President and a large wing of his 
party. It was fortunate for Jackson that his opposition to the Bank, 
as well as other important acts, was attributed to personal pique; 
but a review of the history of the times, and an analysis of the 
character of Jackson, than whom no man was more placable where 
prudence required it, show that it originated in profound policy. It 
was intended to divert attention from the other measures, which 
were the weak point of his party. 

These tactics of Jackson evince remarkable political sagacity. If 
not himself an astute statesman, he was surrounded by the most 
sagacious minds of the country, and no man was more accessible to 
advice. In his " kitchen cabinet," he had minds of the highest 
order, devoted to the success of his administration, rather than to 
any policy, or sectional interest. They possessed his entire confi- 
dence ; his receptive mind was ready to admit their suggestions, 
and his inflexible will, to execute their counsels. 

All the measures of his administration show rare political fore- 
sight; he was never taken unawares by an unforeseen event, but 
everything was foreseen, everything prepared for. But at no period 
of his administration was greater sagacity displayed, than in the 
outset; when, in the absence of a well-defined policy, he sought, by 
the use of government patronage, to make the executive, not meas- 
ures, the rally point of the party ; and then turned the minds of his 
friends from the irritating sectional issues on which they were di- 
vided, by presenting a great national policy of opposition to the 
Bank. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 213 

3. But the course of events forced upon the President other po- 
litic measures, which public opinion attributed, as usual, and which 
he suffered to be attributed, to personal motives. 

The Opposition pressed earnestly the embarrassing issues on which 
the administration party was divided. The Tariff agitation was 
kept up unceasingly, to the serious embarrassment of the adminis- 
tration. The difficulties were complicated by the intemperate op- 
position of many of the anti-tariff friends of the administration, 
who began to advocate nullification as the only remedy for the un- 
constitutional measures of the Federal government. The friends 
of Mr. Calhoun were the leaders of this ultra opposition. Calhoun 
was Vice President, and looking to the succession; and there was 
great danger that the intemperance of his friends, if the President 
were silent, might create the impression that he sympathized with their 
rash proceedings. It became necessary to break with Mr. Calhoun. 

It would, however, be in the highest degree impolitic to make the 
breach upon political grounds. Such a course would alienate the 
entire anti-tariff wing of the party. As usual, a personal pretext 
must be found for an act whose motive had rise in political policy. 
At the proper moment, the friends of the President raked up an old 
ground of grievance which had slept twelve years. And Jackson, 
who always buried old animosities where it was politic to do so, made 
an opinion expressed in 1818 the ground of rupture in 1831. 

The rupture with Calhoun was an act of policy, to prevent the 
alienation of the Tariff wing of the presidential party. It answered 
the purpose for which it was effected ; but it was one of the most 
potent causes of nullification. The South was sore at the oppression 
of its interests by the Tariff. It submitted, however, to the object- 
ionable policy, while yielding a cordial support to the administration. 
But when Calhoun was thrown off, and his friends alienated, though 
ostensibly on a personal issue, they had no longer the restraining 
motive which before taught them patience ; and they yielded to the 
impulse of passion. 

The Tariff, which forced Jackson to alienate Calhoun, and which im- 
pelled its opponents into Nullification, is responsible for all the long 
train of evils to which that act has given rise. 

We now resume the thread of events : 



214 the world's crisis. 

2nd. The Contest over the Tariff, 

The Tariff of 1828 had brought protection to the maximum point. 
The South was highly incensed, and bent all its energies to obtain 
the repeal of the protective system, and the reduction of the duties 
to the revenue standard. The agricultural and manufacturing states 
were equally resolved to maintain the system, as necessary to secure 
a home market for manufactures and agricultural produce. Jackson 
was elected as a protectionist, by the votes of half of the support- 
ers of the tariff, and the entire vote of the anti-tariff party. 

The maintenance or the downfall of the Tariff depended, in great 
measure, upon the state of the treasury. While the public debt in- 
curred during the War of 1812 remained uncanceled, the country 
would submit patiently to the heavy duties that were thought nec- 
essary for revenue purposes. But, at the period of Jackson's ac- 
cession to office, this debt was being rapidly extinguished; and there 
was every probability of its being liquidated in a few years. The 
liquidation of the public debt would leave a large annual surplus rev- 
enue, and would be the signal for a strong pressure, in favor of a 
general reduction of the Tariff. 

This danger to the Tariff could only be obviated by such large ap- 
propriations to internal improvements as would deplete the treasury, 
and prevent the liquidation of the debt. With this view, the Oppo- 
sition pressed the passage of numerous Internal Improvement bills, 
which were supported by many friends of the administration, in op- 
position to the interests, and earnest remonstrances of their Southern 
allies. 

In his delicate position, Jackson acted with extreme caution. He 
took ground in his first message to Congress, which gratified both 
wings of his party. He, on the one hand, argued earnestly in favor 
of the constitutionality and expediency of the policy of protection; 
while, on the other, he maintained, that the only mode of disposing 
of the surplus revenue that would annually accrue was, to pass a 
constitutional amendment authorizing its distribution among the 
several states. This was a virtual committal of the administration 
to a reduction of the Tariff after the liquidation of the public debt ; 
since the adoption of the proposed constitutional amendment was 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 215 

hopeless. His policy during the session was equally skillful. He 
gratified his southern adherents by vetoing a number of bills making 
appropriations to improvements of a merely local character; and in 
a most able veto message, which had a great effect upon the course 
of public opinion, he urged the unconstitutionality of all appropri- 
ations to merely local improvements, and the inexpediency of di- 
verting the revenues from the liquidation of the public debt. But, 
not to alienate his Northern friends too far, he sanctioned other 
bills of like character, where the improvements were of a less 
strictly local nature. He also, at this period, took decided ground 
against nullification, and soon after consummated the breach with 
Calhoun. 

In his next annual message to Congress (Dec. 1830), he again 
argued, though less earnestly than before, in favor of the policy of 
protection; and again urged at length the impolicy and unconsti- 
tutionality of appropriations for internal improvements, and sug- 
gested the adoption of a constitutional amendment authorizing the 
distribution of surplus revenue among the States. But the Op- 
position continued to press bills for internal improvement, and so 
many of the President's friends now voted in favor of them as to 
give immense majorities for all, and to some of them, over two 
thirds of both houses of Congress. In the presence of such votes, 
the President waived his objections, and approved the bills; though 
he indicated his opposition to the policy, by refusing to return such 
bills as were passed during the last days of the session, and thus 
annulling them. 

But the steady weight of Jackson's influence was producing a 
strong impression on the public mind. His repeated pronuncia- 
mentos were gradually exciting an opposition to the Bank, and re- 
lieving the administration from pressure upon the Tariff question. 
Besides, a gradual reaction was taking place on the question of 
Internal Improvement, which was strengthening the opposition to 
the Tariff in the North. Furthermore, the Tariff had produced its 
effect of turning capital to manufactures ; and the agricultural 
states of the North were gradually approaching the point where 
they would be ready to co-operate with the South in withdrawing 
the bonus of high duties. In the midst of this reaction, a con- 



216 

gressional election took place, which, though a large majority of 
supporters of Bank and Tariff were returned from the Northern 
states, was on the whole favorable to the administration, and 
greatly strengthened the hands of the President. The current of 
opinion in favor of the Tariff was evidently receding. There was 
the best prospect of success, at no distant day, to the President's 
policy of bringing the Tariff back to the revenue standard. 

One danger, however, still threatened. The opposition to the 
Tariff continued in the South ; but it was temperate in all the states 
except South Carolina. In that state, resentment against the ad- 
ministration for its treatment of Calhoun was superadded to the 
anti-tariff excitement, and threatened to precipitate nullification of 
the obnoxious laws. The attitude of Jackson toward Calhoun drove 
South Carolina from co-operation with the administration into an- 
tagonism ; and, instead of seconding the policy of the President, as 
did the other Southern states, it was more inclined to embarrass 
him. The feud with Calhoun, which was necessary to the Northern 
popularity of the administration, was bearing bitter fruit. 

Jackson saw the gathering storm, and prepared to meet it. As 
his cabinet was then organized, he could not have grappled with 
nullification. His cabinet officers were, Van Buren of New York, 
Secretary of State ; Eaton of Tennessee, Secretary of War ; Ingham 
of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; Branch of North Caro- 
lina, Secretary of the Navy ; Berrien of Georgia, Attorney General. 
Of these, the last three were devoted friends of Calhoun, and would 
have sided with him, in the event of a collision. A declaration by 
the Attorney General that South Carolina was right, a refusal by 
the Secretary of the Navy to give necessary orders to the naval 
force, and by the Secretary of the Treasury to provide the financial 
sinews, would have been very embarrassing. Van Buren and Eaton 
might have been relied on ; but the locality of the former would have 
excited antagonism to his state papers ; and the feud of the latter 
with Calhoun would have given an air of persecution to all his acts. 
A collision at the head of such a cabinet would have precipitated a 
war of sections. 

Jackson prepared himself to meet the crisis. A personal feud 
had existed between the members of his cabinet ever since its form- 



INFLUENCE OF T1IE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 217 

ation, growing out of the refusal of the families of all the members 
(except Van Buren) to recognize the wife of Eaton, — a feud which 
the President must have known would spring up, when he organized 
his cabinet ; and which looks like a politic provision of a pretext 
for its dissolution, without assigning a political cause. This feud, 
which had been smoldering for two years, was now made the osten- 
sible reason for a dissolution of the cabinet. In its reconstruction, 
the President was careful to strengthen his administration for a col- 
lision with Nullification. Taney of Maryland, the Attorney Gen- 
eral, and Livingston of Louisiana, the Secretary of State, were the 
only members from the South ; but both could be relied on, thor- 
oughly, and their support would give a powerful moral aid to the 
administration. The others, McLane, Cass, and Woodbury, were 
all Northern men, representing respectively the Eastern, Middle, 
and Western states, and would enable him to carry the North in 
solid phalanx in any collision with Nullification. 

When the new Congress met, the President felt himself strong 
enough to change his tone on the Tariff question. In his message 
to Congress, (December, 1831,) he no longer advocated the distri- 
bution of surplus revenues among the states ; but recommended " a 
modification of the Tariff which shall produce a reduction of our 
revenue to the wants of the government," and "relieve the people 
of unnecessary taxation after the extinguishment of the public 
debt." This recommendation, from one so guarded as Jackson 
always was in his state papers, is evidence that he saw the subsi- 
dence of the protection mania. 

But the Tariff was still powerful in Congress. The debt would 
be extinguished in 1832, when the tariff would yield annually a 
surplus revenue of $14,000,000. A modification of the Tariff was 
become a necessity. But its friends brought in a new bill which 
increased the duties on protected articles, while it reduced them on 
other imports so far as to reduce the revenue some $3,000,000. 

This Tariff was one of the measures on which the Opposition 
wished to go before the country, in the presidential election of 
1832. But it was not satisfied to rest its cause upon this one issue. 
The combined pressure of the Bank and Tariff was deemed neces- 
sary to effect the overthrow of the administration. With this view. 



218 the world's crisis. 

a bill rechartering the United States Bank was pressed through 
Congress, many of the partisans of the administration voting for it. 
The President vetoed it, as was expected, and the issue went before 
the country. But unexpectedly to the Opposition, the Bank issue 
threw the Tariff into the shade. The popularity of the Bank 
veto neutralized the modified opposition to the Tariff, and won so 
many votes as to secure the triumphant re-election of Jackson. 

Strong in his re-election, the President, in his annual message to 
Congress, (Dec. 1832,) strongly urged such an additional reduction 
of the Tariff as would bring the revenues down to the standard of ex- 
penditure. The patient policy of Jackson was about to achieve the 
victory, and effect a permanent adjustment of the tariff question, 
upon the revenue basis. 

But, unfortunately, the impatience of South Carolina intervened 
and marred everything. 

When the tariff of 1832 was passed, excitement rose to an extra- 
ordinary pitch, in South Carolina. Too much excited to see the 
gradual change that was working in the North — too much alienated 
from Jackson by his antagonism with Calhoun, to hope for any 
benefit from his slow and patient policy — that state deemed the law 
of 1832 evidence of a deliberate resolve on the part of the North 
to maintain the policy perpetually. The South Carolinians were 
tired of co-operating with Northern allies who voted on all im- 
portant questions with their opponents ; and of seconding an ad- 
ministration which was powerless to control the votes of its Northern 
supporters, and which denounced their own principles of constitu- 
tional exposition, and thrust out their honored statesman from its 
friendship. Embittered alike against the tariff wing of the party, 
and the President, they resolved upon extreme measures. In the 
fall of 1832, just after the presidential election, a state convention 
met, which pronounced the tariff laws unconstitutional, and declared 
them null and void within the limits of South Carolina, and forbade 
duties to be collected under them, in the ports of the state. 

Such was the Nullification ordinance. 

The legislatures of several states were in session at the moment, 
and expressed their opinion of the act of South Carolina. Dela- 
ware, Missouri, and Tennessee, disclaimed the doctrine of nullifica- 



INFLUENCE OP THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 219 

tion ; it was condemned by the legislatures of North Carolina, and 
Alabama; Georgia reprobated it; Virginia reaffirmed the State 
rights resolutions of 1798, but declared that they did not sanction 
the proceedings of South Carolina. 

The President was desirous of overturning the protective system 
from which the South suffered so severely, but he would not suffer 
federal laws to be set aside by state authority. He replied to the 
nullification ordinance by a proclamation, in which he took high 
ground in support of federal authority, declared his resolution to 
maintain the supremacy of federal laws and enforce the collection 
of duties, and urged the people of South Carolina to recede from the 
position they had assumed. .A collision between the state and the 
federal government seemed imminent. Virginia assumed the atti- 
tude of mediator, declaring the tariff laws unconstitutional, but 
deprecating the attitude of South Carolina, and requesting that 
state to postpone the execution of the nullification ordinance, to 
give time for the repeal of the unconstitutional measures. South 
Carolina assented, and Congress proceeded to discuss the tariff, un- 
der the new conditions the question had assumed. 

The Administration proposed to avail itself of the crisis, to obtain 
such a modification of the Tariff as would deprive it of its protec- 
tive features, and restore it to the status of the tariff of 1816. 
Verplank's bill embodied such modifications. But it met a stormy 
opposition. The friends of the Tariff were bent upon maintaining 
it, and resolved to avail themselves, to the utmost, of the false posi- 
tion in which South Carolina had placed herself, in order to obtain 
such an adjustment of the question as would maintain protection 
intact. They especially insisted upon the impolicy of the Federal 
government receding from its position in the face of the attitude of 
South Carolina ; and urged that the issue raised by the state ought 
to be met, and federal authority resolutely asserted. 

But to many of them came sober second thought. They reflected 
that to leave the issue open was full of danger to the Tariff, in every 
point of view. Recent elections showed that in the next Congress 
the administration would have such a majority as would enable it to 
repeal the protective features of the Tariff, altogether. South 
Carolina had once, at the instance of Virginia, deferred the execu- 



220 the world's crisis. 

tion of her nullification ordinance, and in view of the recent elec- 
tions, might decide to defer it again. If it did so, the overthrow 
of the Tariff at the next session of Congress was certain. Or, if 
South Carolina resolved to persevere and abide the issue of a con- 
flict with federal authority, the prospect for the Tariff was no 
better. The collision might involve the other Southern states. If 
it ultimated in the disruption of the Union, the odium would rest 
upon the Tariff; if Jackson succeeded in suppressing resistance, the 
credit of the result would greatly strengthen his administration, and 
enable him to readjust the Tariff upon any basis he chose. 

On the other hand, the time was opportune for an advantageous 
settlement of the issue. Jackson was bent upon coercion, and the 
dread of this would induce South Carolina and the other opponents 
of the Tariff to consent to any arrangement, however disadvan- 
tageous, which professed to be a compromise, and which would allow 
the state to recede, without dishonor, from its false position. 

Influenced by these views, and by a patriotic desire to avert a 
collision between state and federal authority, Mr. Clay introduced a 
Compromise tariff bill, which stipulated a gradual reduction of du- 
ties for ten years, when they should be brought to the minimum 
standard. The reduction, however, was so gradual as to preserve 
protection in full force, for nine years ; and there was no stipulation 
against the re-establishment of the protective system at the expira- 
tion of the ten years. 

The measure was acceptable to the manufacturing interest, from 
a conviction that it made few concessions : the South Carolina dele- 
gation was forced to join in its support, as the only means of honor- 
able escape from the false position, in which the state had placed 
itself by its precipitate and ill-advised action. 

Nullification claimed a victory, but it had really sustained a 
defeat. Backed by the administration resolutely bent upon coercive 
measures, the Protectionists were masters of the situation. They, 
in fact, yielded nothing in the compromise. With full protection 
for nine years, they avowed their intention of re-establishing the 
policy in full force, as soon as the limitation of the Tariff expired. 
Nullification must have been hard pressed, indeed, when it accepted 
an act like this as a compromise. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 221 

In every point of view, Nullification was in the highest degree 
impolitic. It surrendered the vantage ground which the opponents 
of the Tariff had gained, and yielded up a victory already won ; and 
it inflicted incalculable injury upon our system of government. 

Never was there a more convincing illustration of the impolicy 
of an appeal to revolutionary measures, than in this instance. The 
Tariff had already produced the market agriculture coveted, and, 
this object attained, the agricultural states were almost ready to with- 
draw the extravagant bonus given with a view of embarking capital 
in manufactures. The earnest remonstrances of the South were 
beginning to have their effect. Jackson had thrown his immense 
influence in favor of a reduction of the Tariff. The Northern elec- 
tions were manifesting the revulsion of sentiment caused by these 
various influences, and showed such a decided increase of the 
strength of the administration, as to menace the Tariff with over- 
throw. Affairs had taken a turn which made it certain, that a few 
years more of patient sufferance and constant agitation would over- 
turn a system equally unjust and impolitic. But, just on the eve 
of success, Nullification placed the opponents of the Tariff in a false 
position, and ruined all. It strengthened the Tariff by exciting 
passions and prejudices which had never before been aroused, and 
enabled the Protectionists to dictate the terms, on which they would 
allow South Carolina to recede without loss of honor from her rash 
attitude. To avert a collision between the state and the Federal 
government, the opponents of the Tariff were compelled to make 
hasty terms with their opponents, and agree to endure protection 
for nine years, without further agitation of the question. They 
thus yielded all the advantages of their position, — the debt paid up, 
and a large excess of revenue annually accruing — the President 
with his immense popularity in their favor — the wavering interests 
of the agricultural states, combining with the sense of justice to 
induce a revulsion of sentiment, — they were compelled to give up 
all these advantages, to rescue South Carolina from her antagonism 
with the inflexible will of Jackson. 

But its effect upon our system of government was the worst con- 
sequence of Nullification. It first brought State rights into dis- 



222 the world's crisis. 

repute with a great portion of the American people, and fostered a 
tendency to centralization, until then held in abeyance. The right of 
coercion had been disavowed by Alexander Hamilton, and, up to 
that period, had never been advocated by any American statesman. 
Daniel Webster in his debate with Hayne assumed that ground, — ■ 
the first time it ever found utterance from the lips of an American 
statesman. But Nullification, through the influence of antagonism, 
popularized the doctrine, and it has been growing, ever since. 

The Tariff was a violation of the Constitution. In transcending 
the limit of its powers, and interfering with the industry of the 
country, the Federal government had trenched upon the reserved 
province of State rights. The grievance is admitted : the only ques- 
tion is with regard to the redress. 

In the tariff laws, the rights of the states were infringed; but 
South Carolina inflicted far deeper injury upon State rights, by 
asserting them in support of Nullification. The odium attached to 
Nullification attached to State rights also. Many were ready, in 
their repugnance to Nullification, to reject altogether the doctrine 
on which it was based. A great principle cannot be crushed by its 
opponents; it can be injured, only by the injudicious advocacy of 
its friends. Political, like religious truth, triumphs by patient suf- 
ferance ; and is only defeated when its advocates lay aside remon- 
strance, to appeal to the arbitrament of Passion. 

Extremes beget extremes. The unconstitutional assumption of 
power by the Federal government begat Nullification : and this again 
caused the Federal government to claim a power against South Car- 
olina which the Constitution never gave — which Hamilton, the chief 
advocate of strong government, disavowed — and unheard of, until that 
age. It is hard for nations, as well as individuals, to learn that two 
wrongs do not make one right. " If the tariff laws are an usurp- 
ation," cried South Carolina, " we have the right to nullify them." 
" If Nullification is wrong," cried Jackson in turn, " the government 
has a right to put it down." The nation applauded the sentiment, 
and popular opinion came to regard the right of coercion as a rec- 
ognized power of the Federal government. 

But it may be demanded, "Is there no redress for wrong?" Yes, 
but it is not violence. If a man's property is illegally seized by 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 223 

violence, he lias redress ; but it is not to burn the house of his 
wronger ; nor would his act of arson justify his foe in taking his 
life. Justice would punish both acts of retaliation. The Consti- 
tution never contemplated collisions between federal and state au- 
thority. It was expected that each would, in good faith, remain 
within the sphere of its powers. The crime of parricide was so 
unheard of among the Romans that no law was made for its pun- 
ishment : so the framers of the Constitution made no provision 
for such assumptions of power as might bring about state and 
federal collision. They were satisfied with so arranging the powers 
of each as to restrict their respective jurisdiction to separate 
spheres ; with giving the supremacy to federal laws where they nec- 
essarily came in contact, as in the power of direct taxation ; and 
with vesting power in the Supreme Court to annul unconstitutional 
and oppressive laws of Congress. That the highest judicial tribunal 
of the nation should be swayed by prejudice or passion to give a cor- 
rupt decision was unthought of, and its occurrence was not provided 
for. Should such an event occur, peaceful agitation is the true 
means of redress. — Truth is indestructible by oppression. Passions 
die; interests change with time; — but truth is immutable and eternal; 
and if her votaries are true to their cause, the triumph of Truth over 
wrong supported by fading passions and changing interests is assured. 
But it must be remembered that Truth has but one arbiter, — Reason ; 
but one advocate, — Peace. 

But it must not be forgotten that Nullification was provoked by 
the unconstitutional legislation of the Federal government. The 
tariff laws passed in violation of the Constitution, long patiently 
borne, at last outwearied patience. Injustice always rouses passion, 
and when does passion reflect! The Tariff developed antagonistic 
interests, where none previously existed; and excited sectional pas- 
sions, which ought to have- forever slept. It roused Southern in- 
dignation at being sacrificed to Northern interests, and thus gendered 
Nullification and its twin-born rival and antagonist, Coercion, which 
have convulsed the country with their bickerings, ever since. The 
South blamed Nullification as unconstitutional and ill-advised, but 
sympathized with it as an outbreak against intolerable and long- 
continued oppression. The North applauded the proclamation of 



224 the world's crisis. 

Jackson to the echo, and its doctrines, advocated for the first time by 
Webster, in 1831, against the almost unanimous opinion of the 
statesmen of the nation, became the received theory of government. 
The antagonism of feeling and sentiment gendered by the Tariff 
was never afterward allayed. The idea gathered strength that the 
interests of the sections were antagonistic. The South began to 
balance the advantages of the Union with its burdens. Causes of 
irritation were continually rising, and in them all the leaven of 1832 
was apparent. The South came to meet every grievance with the 
passionate cry, " We '11 secede ;" to which the North thundered the 
stern rejoinder, " We '11 whip you in." 

Jackson alone profited by the course events had taken. In con- 
templating the career of this remarkable man, we hardly know 
whether to attribute his success, more to the sagacity of his meas- 
ures and the decision of his character, or to the Fortune which 
made him her favorite. The Compromise disposed of the Tariff, — 
the measure most threatening to his popularity, and adjourned its 
final adjustment to a period subsequent to his administration. The 
Protectionists had treated with their antagonists under the shadow 
of his authority, and extolled the vigor that enabled them to dictate 
the terms of adjustment. The " Old Roman " became, for the mo- 
ment, the idol of the North, as the embodiment of the Websterian 
theory of government, whose patriotism rose superior to sectional 
feeling. 

3d. The Contest over the Bank. 

Jackson was strengthened by the popularity obtained through 
the settlement of the Tariff to meet the Bank in the death struggle, 
for which both were preparing. He needed it all. The veto of 
1832 had scotched the Bank, not killed it. It was the beginning 
of the battle, not the termination of the conflict. The Bank had, as 
yet, brought none of its engines of offense into the field. With its 
immense power over the finances, the numberless possibilities of the 
future were all in its favor. 

The Bank was the financial autocrat of the country. According 
to the well-considered declaration of its president, it could embar- 
rass, save, destroy the state banks, at will. They were the crea- 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 225 

tures of its favor, and must second its policy. The charter of the 
Bank in 1832 had, moreover, showed its power over Congress in a 
striking light. Its influence over the minds of many of his fol- 
lowers was stronger than that of Jackson himself. In obedience to 
its mandate, a strong division of the friends of the administration 
had drawn off from the party on this question, and co-operated with 
the Opposition to recharter the Bank, in opposition to their political 
allies, and the known will of their chief. And even when he had 
vetoed the bill, they had again voted to carry it over his veto. 

Much has been said of the discipline of the Jackson Democracy; 
but never was party composed of more incongruous elements. 
Every shade of political opinion was represented in it, — Latitudi- 
narian and Strict Constructionists, Centralizationists and Nullifiers, 
Bank and Anti-Bank, Tariff and Anti-Tariff, Internal Improvement 
and Anti-Internal Improvement partisans, were all gathered in an 
assemblage of incongruities. It was a period of transition — when 
nothing was established. The popularity of Jackson won many to 
his standard, whose political principles identified them with his an- 
tagonists ; and, on every test question, they deserted their banners 
and went over in a body to the Opposition. Benton, in his " Thirty 
Years," complains of the Opposition for introducing the Bank, 
Tariff, and Internal Improvement questions into the elections of 
1832 ; — which questions, he insists, did not belong to politics ! The 
reader of his work wonders if these questions did not belong to 
politics, what questions did ? Yet, as relates to the Jackson party, 
his assertion is, in great measure, true. The Opposition were Lat- 
itudinarian Constructionists, with a distinct policy in support of all 
the Latitudinarian measures of the time. But the Jackson party, 
as such, had no policy. They differed among themselves on all 
important questions, and as the only means of maintaining harmony, 
declared that these questions did not belong to politics! As a 
party, they had no measures ; they were rallied only around their 
chief, and forgot all points of difference in a " Hurrah for Jackson." 

At the head of this motley party, Jackson prepared for a war to 
the death with the Bank. 

The moneyed institution had every advantage, and the probabilities 
15 



226 the world's crisis. 

seemed strong in favor of its triumph. It had a circulation of 
$90,000,000, which Congress might increase to any extent it chose. 
It could force the state banks to make common cause with it in the 
execution of any policy it might dictate. The capitalists of the 
country were devoted to its interests. And, finally, a strong divi- 
sion of the administration party were its earnest advocates. But 
the settlement of the Tariff gave the Bank an advantage of more 
avail than all beside, to gain which was probably a powerful though 
unavowed motive in inducing' Mr. Clay to press that measure. The 
" Compromise Tariff" yielded large surplus revenues. These would 
be suffered to accumulate, and would lie on deposit in the United 
States Bank, which was the treasury agent of the government. 
These deposits would become the basis of an immense expansion of 
the Bank circulation, which, in turn, would stimulate the state 
banks to expand their issues. This inflation of the currency would 
stimulate the business of the country to an unparalleled degree. In 
the midst of this general prosperity, and at a time judiciously chosen 
with a view to the presidential election of 1836, the Bank would 
demand a recharter, as the only condition on which it could main- 
tain its circulation. Congress would, of course, grant a recharter, 
and the President would veto it. The Bank would avow that it 
must then proceed to wind up its affairs, and would call in its own 
circulation, and force state banks to call in theirs. Such a collap&e 
would produce general ruin. The Bank, however, would lay the 
blame upon the Executive, which left it no alternative but to wind 
up its affairs. The remedy was obvious. Grant a recharter, and it 
could at once expand its issues, and relieve the general distress. 

Under such circumstances, the Bank would certainly triumph. 
Jackson would never recede ; but, either Congress would pass the 
recharter over his veto, or the issue would go into the presidential 
canvas of 1836, and the people would be impelled, by general ruin, 
to elect a Bank man to the presidency. 

These probabilities were foreseen. There was only one measure 
that could thwart the plans of the Bank, and with military prompt- 
itude Jackson resolved to adopt it. He avowed that, if let alone, 
the Bank would " buy up Congress " and carry a recharter over his 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 227 

veto ; and he determined to cripple the institution, by removing the 
government deposits and placing them with state banks. 

It was known that Congress would not recommend the measure. 
The President resolved to execute it upon his own responsibility. 
His friends wavered ; many opposed ; many held aloof; some yielded 
a reluctant consent. The power to remove the deposits rested with 
the Secretary of the Treasury. Jackson urged Congress to order a 
removal of the deposits. Congress refused to do it, and voted a 
resolution that the public deposits were safe with the institution. 
Jackson now wished the Secretary of the Treasury to issue the order 
for their removal. McLane, who was Secretary, demurred to act 
in direct opposition to the vote of Congress. Jackson transferred 
him to the State Department, and put Duane in his place. Duane, 
when desired to issue an order for their removal, positively refused 
to execute the will of the President. Jackson now announced in 
cabinet council his resolution to have the deposits removed on his 
responsibility, and fixed the day on which it should be done. As 
Duane persisted in his refusal, he removed him, and made Taney 
(since Chief Justice) Secretary, who, without scruple, carried out 
the views of the President. 

This bold action crippled the Bank, and decided the contest. 
That institution curtailed its issues, with the effect of creating a 
panic. But the state deposit banks soon enlarged their issues, and 
put an end to the distress ; other banks expanded ; the United States 
Bank, fearful of being thrown into the shade, followed the example 
of inflation : an unprecedented prosperity ensued, which lasted long 
enough to kill the Bank ; to elect a Democratic successor to the 
presidential chair ; and to allow Jackson to retire with eclat to pri- 
vate life ; when it suddenly closed down with a crash, which shook 
the country like an earthquake, ruining thousands and depressing 
industry for years. 

The removal of the deposits killed the Bank, wresting from it a 
victory otherwise assuredly its own. It was an act of desperate 
resolution, which no other man than Andrew Jackson would have 
attempted; and no other popularity than his could have withstood 
the storm the measure raised. He achieved his object, — the de- 
struction of the Bank ; but the act which decided the contest was 



228 

an assumption of authority on the part of the Executive, which 
tended to exalt executive power, already too great. It finds pallia- 
tion in the fact, that it was the only means of overthrowing an un- 
constitutional and dangerous monopoly. Viewed in this light, it, 
together with the universal ruin the policy of the President brought 
about, must be regarded as the farewell curse of the Bank, which 
could be overthrown only by executive usurpation, and by a system 
of tactics which involved the financial prostration of the country. 

If we strike a balance at the close of Jackson's administration, we 
shall find that the unconstitutional policy of the Latitudinarian Con- 
structionists had received a check ; — but the struggle for its overthrow 
had borne bitter fruits. It necessitated the adoption of the system of 
Rotation in office, with all the corruption it has gendered; it gave rise 
to an antagonism of interests between the sections, and excited ani- 
mosities which would never otherwise have arisen; it gave birth 
to nullification and secession, and the antagonistic theory of coer- 
cion; it exalted the executive branch of the government by encroach- 
ment ; and it left a legacy of ruin to the country, out of which was 
to spring a new era of contest in respect of the same measures. 

Yet, even thus, we escaped well. We were happy in avoiding 
actual disunion ; we narrowly escaped it. He who reads the history 
of the times will perceive that, in 1828, Southern discontent was 
approaching a crisis, which nothing averted but the hope of an 
abatement of the Tariff through the influence of Jackson. Many 
declared that nothing saved the Union in 1828, but the election of 
Jackson ; and we can believe it, when we remember the outbreak of 
Southern discontent in 1832, through impatience of a longer con- 
tinuance of the evil. What would it have been in 1828, if a decided 
protectionist had been elected ? A crisis must have occurred ; and 
no Northern President could have held the firm rein which Jack- 
son's popularity, and his position as a Southerner, enabled him to 
keep. In the attitude of parties in 1828, no man other than a 
decided protectionist could have been elected, except Jackson. Had 
Andrew Jackson not lived, the Tariff would, in all human probabil- 
ity, have disrupted the Union. 

We must not judge Jackson hardly. The difficulties of his po- 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 229 

sition vrere such as few men ever encountered, and no man ever be- 
fore overcame. No one but Andrew Jackson could have overcome 
them. An Opposition united in support of an unconstitutional, but 
beneficial sectional policy ; his own party equally divided, one-half 
identified by the ties of interest with the policy of the Opposition, 
the other half from interest furiously opposing that policy, and re- 
solved to press their opposition to the last extreme ; — with such a 
discordant party an ordinary man would have fallen — ruined by the 
collusion of one part with his opponents, and by the violence of the other. 
Jackson's military reputation and personal popularity were strong ele- 
ments of success, without which he could not have succeeded. But 
they were not sufficient to secure the triumph his administration 
achieved. This, he owed to his remarkable and unique personal char- 
acter, in- which the most opposite traits were strangely commingled. 
A rough limner, seizing upon a single prominent characteristic, 
would caricature him as an impetuous, obstinate, resolute man — an 
autocratic rough rider, who trampled down all opposition to his inflex- 
ible will. He was resolute, and his rare decision of character was a 
prominent element in his success. This trait prompted him to brave 
public opinion, in turning out opponents from office, to make room for 
his friends; to throttle Nullification without hesitancy ; to decree the 
removal of deposits from the United States Bank. But he owed his 
success mainly to qualities the very opposite of this, Avhich have almost 
escaped notice. With a party divided like his, a wrong-headed obsti- 
nacy would have wrecked the administration, at once. Had he identi- 
fied himself with either faction, he had certainly been lost. His grand 
individuality enabled him, as it were, to overlap all the conflicting indi- 
vidualities writhing in conflict round him, and maintain his supremacy 
over them all. His wonderful self-esteem enabled him to hold the bal- 
ance even between the excited factions, into w T hich his party was divided. 
He belonged to neither, and was respected by both. And then, when 
he had marked out a policy, how patient was he of opposition; how 
frank and kindly with those who voted for measures to which he was 
opposed. Half his party voted with the Opposition for Internal 
Improvement bills, brought forward to embarrass him and work his 
overthrow : he vetoed the bills, and was as cordial and as kindly 
toward his partisans as before. They voted for the Bank on whose 



230 the world's crisis. 

destruction he was resolved : he vetoed the Bank, but never turned 
a sour face upon his friends, who co-operated with his enemies 
against his policy. This moderation is the most striking trait in 
the character of Jackson, and peculiarly fitted him for the trying 
circumstances of his position. To this he chiefly owed his success. 
Whence this singular moderation, so strangely combined in the 
same character with fiery impetuosity and invincible resolution?. 
Was it patience? good nature? gentleness? Partly these; for Jack- 
son, whose character was a strange compound of parodoxes, was the 
most patient, gentle, and good-natured of men. It was partly that 
profound self-esteem, which, conscious of its superiority to oppo- 
sition, remains unmoved by the contradictions that would infuriate 
an inferior nature, — the indifference of the mastiff to the snarling 
of a terrier that would goad a lapdog to desperation ; partly the 
frankness and magnanimity of a great soul, asserting its own free- 
dom, and according the same freedom to others, — the greatness of a 
Caesar, indomitable in his purposes, but gentle and placable to op- 
position. But I am persuaded that it chiefly originated in the struc- 
ture of Jackson's intellectual organism. He was a man of action, 
rather than of thought. His acts were identified with himself, but 
he did not feel the same identity with thought. Hence opposition 
to his acts wounded his pride, and roused the lion in his nature. 
But his self-love was not wounded by opposition to his policy ; " That 
is mere difference of opinion," he would say to those who dissented 
from his convictions ; and he treated a difference of opinion with 
the utmost lenity. The reader of his messages will be struck with 
the gentle tone in w T hich he suggests his views of policy. Thought 
never moved him profoundly. His conscientious love of right made 
him calmly follow out his convictions ; but no passions were involved; 
and the same conscientiousness rendered him lenient to the adverse 
convictions of others. Had he been more intellectual, he would 
have advocated his convictions with ardor, and endeavored to compel 
the acquiescence of his followers ; and in so doing, he would have 
wrecked his party. As it was, the gentleness, good nature, and 
magnanimity, so characteristic of the man where his passions were 
not roused, had full scope in all questions of policy, and rendered 
him the least dictatorial, and most forbearing of political leaders. 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 231 

Andrew Jackson is one of the most remarkable characters in 
history. He was a strange compound of contradictions, rarely 
united in the same character. Placable and imperious, gentle and 
stern, facile and inflexible, good-natured and passionate, patient and 
impetuous, yielding and self-willed, — he was peculiarly endowed with 
the qualities necessary to the position he was called to fill. Such 
a character is rarely met, — so indomitable to opponents, yet so little 
arrogant to friends — so sensitive to opposition to his acts, yet so 
indifferent to adverse opinions — so persistent in following out his 
own convictions, yet so magnanimous in conceding the same freedom 
to others. Its peculiarity consists in a grand majestic character 
overshadowing a clear, and penetrating, but not imperial intellect. 
We see the same predominance of character over intellect in Wash- 
ington, united with greater calmness, and perhaps less firmness and 
obstinacy of purpose. Such natures must always rise first in the 
world of action, before they are transferred to the realm of politics. 
When they appear, they are the predestined leaders of men. Grand, 
self-poised, resolute, persistent, magnanimous, conciliatory, they are 
the centers, round which agitated elements gather in periods of 
transition — the founders of States, and establishers of systems. 

■We owe it to Jackson, providentially brought to the helm at the 
moment of crisis, and endowed with remarkable and peculiar quali- 
fications for his difficult station, that the unconstitutional measures 
then dominant did not ruin the country. He saved us from evils 
whose magnitude we can scarcely conceive. It may be that he res- 
cued us from disunion, and saved republicanism from downfall. Let 
us be grateful for his benefits, and attribute the evils he originated, 
not to his volition, but to the necessity forced upon him by the gi- 
gantic system he was aiming to overturn. 

II. Subsequent Contest over the American System. 

Powerful as Jackson was, the Bank and Tariff triumphed over 
his popularity, at last. The measures he was driven to adopt, as 
the only method of destroying the Bank, ruined the prosperity of 
the country. This financial ruin, justly attributed to his policy, 
caused a political reaction, which in 1840 gave the Whigs a Complete 
victory, and supreme control of the government. 



232 

The defeat of the Jackson party and policy was complete and 
decisive. All the machinery devised by Jackson to give strength 
and consistency to his party was seized upon by the Whigs, and em- 
ployed to strengthen their hold on power. Rotation in office, orig- 
inally devised for the purpose of strengthening the administration 
against the pressure of unconstitutional measures, was now used to 
strengthen the party bent on establishing those measures as the per- 
manent policy of the country. The Whigs, aided by bankruptcy, 
had driven the Democracy from their fortifications, and turned their 
batteries against them. The long conflict of Jackson's administration 
had proved fruitless. It seemed as if nothing could prevent the com- 
plete triumph of the Latitudinarian Constructionists in passing 
all their measures. 

The Whigs were in haste to obtain the fruits of their victory. If 
the Bank were established for twenty years, and the protective Tar- 
iff again set on foot, the combined strength of the patronage of the 
government, the power of the Bank, and the devotion of the pro- 
tected classes, would maintain them permanently in power, without 
danger of reaction. They were anxious to set their policy on foot 
without loss of time, and immediately upon his inauguration, Gen- 
eral Harrison, at the instance of the party leaders, summoned a 
called session of Congress for the purpose. 

But the death of Harrison before the Congress met dashed their 
triumph, and turned it into defeat. 

In the shifting scenes of the struggle during Jackson's adminis- 
tration, the Whig party had lost its homogeneous character. It 
entered upon that struggle united in sentiment, — all Latitudinarian 
Constructionists, and all devoted to Bank, Tariff, and Internal Im- 
provements. But in its progress, many joined them in opposition 
to Jackson's removal of the deposits, from a desire to resist execu- 
tive encroachment, who yet were opposed to the leading measures 
of the Whig policy, and to their principles of constitutional con- 
struction. To make capital in the canvass of 1840, the Whigs se- 
lected one of these as their candidate for Vice President. The 
death of Harrison made Tyler the arbiter of the fate of his party, 
and of the political destiny of the country. 

Had Henry Clay possessed the magnanimity of Jackson, the 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 233 

party might have achieved its policy; for Tyler, in the false position 
in which he was placed, was sincerely desirous of co-operating with 
the party to which he owed his elevation. But Clay had too much 
arrogance of intellect to be a successful party leader. A Bank char- 
ter was passed without consulting the President, which he, with his 
views, could not approve. When the astonishment occasioned by 
the veto had subsided, the moderate members of the party arranged 
a compromise measure, to which Tyler promised his approval. But 
the arrogance of Henry Clay wrecked his party. His friends with 
difficulty withheld him from denouncing the President w r hile the 
negotiations were pending. As soon as Tyler had committed him- 
self bj a promise, no longer to be restrained, he delivered a philip- 
pic in the Senate, in which he refused his approval to the Compro- 
mise Bank, and virtually read Tyler out of the party. The President 
refused to be held to a compromise in which all the conciliation was 
on his side; and a second veto put an end to all co-operation between 
him and the party which had elected him, and deprived the Whigs 
of the fruits of their success. 
Tyler's veto killed the Bank. 

In 1842, as soon as the ten years had expired during which the 
Compromise Tariff of 1832 was to exist, the protective Tariff was 
again set on foot. Thus Nullification had failed as signally to des- 
troy the Tariff, as Jackson's assumption of power to destroy the 
Bank. The complete triumph of both measures was only prevented 
by the death of Harrison. The veto of Tyler overthrew the Bank ; 
the demoralization of the Whig party enabled the Democrats to 
carry the election of 1844, upon a new issue which had sprung up, 
and reduce the Tariff to the revenue standard. 

The events of this era of struggle teach us that we should never 
fight one evil by establishing another as its antagonist; that Truth 
should fight its own battles, without the alloy of passion; — then 
when principle has triumphed, the issue is laid at rest forever. 
Where Right strengthens itself for the conflict with Wrong by allying 
itself with abuses, the triumph it achieves is shortlived ; — but the 
abuses permanently remain. The system of Rotation in office, the 
unwarranted assumption of executive power, the interposition of 



234 the world's crisis. 

State Nullification, failed of accomplishing the good they were de- 
signed to achieve ; — -but their evil influence remained, and still con- 
tinues to afflict the country. 

Sect. 2. — The Slavery Agitation. 

The American System excited sectional animosities to the highest 
pitch, during the conflict over the Tariff. But it inflicted far greater 
evil upon the country, in giving rise to the Slavery agitation. 

It has been seen, how in a normal condition of industry, Slavery 
would have been drained from the Border to the Cotton states, leav- 
ing the former to become free, and ameliorating the institution in 
the latter ; and how the Bank and Tariff interfered to prevent this 
consummation, gave birth to the slave trade, fortified slavery within 
its boundaries, and filled the institution with abnormal abuses. 

While slavery seemed to be waning, the area of emancipation ex- 
tending steadily southward, the public mind paid little attention to 
the subject; it was generally agreed to leave the institution to the 
force of natural laws, and the advancing spirit of the age. But the 
new vigor imparted to the institution by the Tariff, and the abuses 
to which that measure gave rise, attracted attention to it. A small 
but zealous body of enthusiasts, erroneously believing that further 
emancipation was hopeless through the force of natural causes, be- 
gan to look to abolition by the Federal government. Heedless of 
the limits of Federal power, they began a bold and reckless agitation. 
They flooded the South with their publications ; and deluged Con- 
gress with petitions for the abolition of slavery, for the dissolution 
of the Union, and for other objects which would tend to foster the 
excitement they were bent on producing. 

Their measures, however, would have been productive of no re- 
sult, had not their agitation been favored by the sectional animosi- 
ties gendered by the Tariff. Their publications were thrown out of 
the Southern mails ; and Congress, at first, with very few exceptions, 
manifested little sympathy with their cause. But the Southern op- 
position to the system in which Northern interests were deeply 
involved, chafed many Northern congressmen, and induced 
them to encourage these petitions as a means of annoyance to the 
South. " They will not give us the Tariff," a Northern member 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 235 

said, "let them be stung by these petitions." The petitions con- 
tinued to pour in upon Congress. They occasioned many exciting 
scenes. 

Southern statesmen were seized with alarm at the agitation ; 
especially as the petitions were countenanced in Congress by a 
more and more numerous phalanx of sympathizers. It became evi- 
dent that the agitation was leavening the Northern mind. Amid 
this ceaseless bickering, the sectional idea became fixed. The 
country came to be regarded as composed of two divisions, antago- 
nistic in interest, and in feeling. The next step was to assume that 
the South could not remain in safety in the Union, without main- 
taining an equality in Congress. Many began to look with alarm 
at the increasing ascendancy of the North, in population, and in 
representation. Equality in the House of Representatives was lost, 
and the disparity of strength was annually increasing. In the Sen- 
ate, the sections were as yet equal; but there was no territory left 
to Slavery, south of the Missouri Compromise line, while in the vast 
area to the north of it, new states would continue to be organized. 
The balance of power would soon be destroyed as effectually, in the 
Senate, as in the House of Representatives. 

As the only means of averting this result, Southern statesmen 
began to meditate the acquisition of territory south of the Missouri 
Compromise line. 

Texas originally belonged to the Louisiana territory purchased 
from France. It was ceded by Monroe to Spain, in 1819, to pro- 
pitiate the North, then agitated by the slavery question. After the 
revolution which freed Mexico from the Spanish yoke, the Mexican 
government opened Texas to American immigration. These settlers 
revolted from Mexico, in 1836, and were now anxious to be rean- 
nexed to the United States. Southern politicians beheld, here, the 
opportunity of securing the territory necessary to maintain the 
balance of power with the North. Calhoun co-operated with the 
Democracy for years, with a view to enlist the party in favor of the 
Southern policy. The question of annexation was the leading issue 
in the presidential election of 1844. 

In that election, the two adverse political parties rallied all their 
strength. It was the great battle of opposing views. The Bank, 



236 

the Tariff, Internal Improvements, were the grand issues to be de- 
cided. The triumph of the Democracy seemed an ultimate decision 
of all the questions which then distracted the American people. 
The Bank was placed in the category of obsolete issues ; the Tariff 
was finally adjusted upon the revenue basis ; Texas was admitted 
with the stipulation that, as population increased, its territory 
might be divided into five states. Within this area, it was thought, 
Slavery might find room for development, so as to maintain an 
equality in the Senate for a long period. 

Here, had wise counsels prevailed, the vexed questions which had 
so deeply agitated the public mind would have rested. If the 
slavery agitation had stopped here, all might have been well. The 
Bank and Tariff removed, the country would have gradually returned 
to a normal course of industry; industrial and political harmony 
would have been restored between the sections ; slavery, withdrawn 
from politics, would have found solution in gradual emancipation 
from the force of natural laws; a grand industrial career would 
have opened before us, in which the manufacturing West would 
have been the center of the system ; and, though late in entering 
upon it, our country would have fulfilled its destiny. 

But here, again, the fatality of our false industrial system inter- 
vened, to urge us yet further in a course of sectional antagonism. 
It had induced an excitement which had leavened the public mind, 
and influenced our politics no less than our social life. The 
national mind was fevered, and already began to display a mania 
for excitements. The most exciting questions were the most popu- 
lar. The opportunity to pause was lost. The country was precip- 
itated into the fatal Mexican war. New territory was acquired ; 
the rival sections came into collision over the question of its distri- 
bution ; and the question of Slavery extension became henceforth 
the grand issue which agitated the Union. 

The greater portion of the territory acquired from Mexico lay 
south of the Missouri Compromise line : the South claimed that an 
equal share of it should be opened to the extension of slavery ; the 
North generally took the ground that there should be no further 
extension of slavery into the territories. The controversy raged in 
both sections for several years, and at length reached such a height 



INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 237 

as to threaten the integrity of the Union. It was settled, at length, 
by the compromise of 1850. 

All the solid advantages of this compromise inured to the North : 
it virtually ceded all the territory in dispute to free labor. It 
admitted California as a free state; separated New Mexico from 
Texas; and left all the newly-acquired territories to determine for 
themselves the question of slavery or freedom. It was a practical 
common-sense disposition of the question, referring it to the deter- 
mination of natural laws. Still, the Compromise measures were 
unfavorable to the South, for it was known that the operation of 
natural laws would secure the territory to freedom. 

This arrangement respecting the territories acquired by the 
Mexican war wrested from the South the equality in the Senate 
secured through the annexation of Texas. This fact tended to 
renew and intensify the apprehensions of the South with regard to 
the ascendancy of the other section. And, unfortunately, the com- 
promise became the beginning of a new agitation in the North 
against slavery. As the South yielded everything in respect of 
territory, it was proposed, as an equivalent, to embody among the 
Compromise measures a law for the rendition of fugitive slaves found 
in the Northern states. This law became the occasion of a new, and 
more intense anti-slavery excitement than had yet agitated the North. 

The Compromise of 1850, owing to the social excitement per- 
vading the country, became the means of widening the breach be- 
tween the sections, by intensifying the anti-slavery excitement at 
the North, and the apprehensions at the South of Northern su- 
premacy. 

But the conservative element in both sections rallied in support 
of the Compromise, and, for the time, succeeded in overruling the 
revolutionary tendencies, both North and South. The presidential 
election of 1852 was an unmistakable verdict of approval of the 
Compromise of 1850. The social excitement had not yet risen to 
such a pitch as to endanger the Union. Conservatives began to 
hope that the slavery agitation was ended, and that the institution 
would henceforth be left to the operation of natural laws. But, 
unfortunately, a spark was struck, which again ignited the tinder. 

The overwhelming approval of the principle of the Compromise 



238 the world's crisis. 

measures induced an attempt to extend it to all the territories. 
The act organizing the territories of Kansas and Nebraska embodied 
the principle of non-intervention, and sought to establish it as the 
definitive policy of the government. 

If the public mind had been calm and healthful, the establishment 
of this principle would have been universally hailed as a wise ad- 
justment of a vexed and agitating question. The North would 
have accepted it as a delicate but sure method of securing all the 
national territories to freedom ; the South, as a magnanimous sug- 
gestion, permitting them to retire from a hopeless conflict, without 
a wounded sense of honor. But, in the social and political condi- 
tion of the country, the measure was most unfortunate. It was 
unnecessary, since it was opening to agitation territories whose 
status was fixed by the Missouri Compromise ; and, in the then ex- 
isting state of the country, the wise, conservative calmness, neces- 
sary to weigh the measure and properly estimate its bearings, was 
wanting. Social excitement joined with political fervor, to inflame 
the public mind to a point that rendered it peculiarly accessible to 
the influence of passion. Moreover, Rotation in office had combined 
with social demoralization and sectional excitement, to elevate to 
prominence many political adventurers solely intent upon personal 
aggrandizement, and ready to appeal to sectional passions, as the 
theme most readily compassed by the mediocre scope of their men- 
tality, and best adapted to chime in with the prevailing tone of ex- 
citability and subserve their selfish views of personal ambition. 
These ambitious adventurers seized hold upon the sensational theme, 
and diligently set about inflaming anew the smoldering passions of 
the sections : inciting the South, on the one hand, to renew the 
struggle for equality of political power ; and, on the other, inflaming 
the Northern mind with the phantasm of slavery extension. 

Political circumstances, also, were peculiarly favorable to the 
formation of a powerful anti-slavery party in the North. The Whig 
party was hopelessly disorganized by its late defeat ; and its broken 
cohorts were in search of a new banner, under which to rally. Many 
of its leaders were still devoted to the Bank and Tariff. But they 
saw that these measures could only be re-established under cover 
of an issue that would dissever the West and the great Middle states 



* INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 239 

from their political alliance with the South, and unite them strongly 
with New England. The anti-slavery issue was the only one which 
gave a hope to these broken partisans of gratifying their personal 
ambition, and again establishing the measures the Democracy had 
overthrown. They resolved to seize upon it, and use it for the ac- 
complishment of their purposes. 

The Kansas-Nebraska act was seized on as a fit means of rousing 
the agitation necessary to organize a powerful sectional party. It 
was declared that Kansas was given up to slavery, and that it could 
be saved, only by the most vigorous measures. The clergy were 
subsidized in aid of the political movement; the Northern pulpit 
.resounded with incendiary harangues ; meetings were held for the 
purpose of sending out emigrants to Kansas thoroughly furnished 
with weapons to save the territory to freedom, if necessary, by force 
of arms. Every instrumentality was employed to fever the North- 
ern mind. The excitability fostered by our industrial system was 
easily moved ; the tinder was ready for the spark, and on the instant 
the North was in a blaze of excitement. 

The same excitability prevailed also at the South. Under ordi- 
nary circumstances, Southern emigrants to Kansas would have set- 
tled, side by side, indiscriminately with those of the North, living in 
harmony with them, and quietly submitting when the issue was de- 
cided against them by the ballot. But now, Northern excitement 
caused a counter excitement in the South. Emigrants from the 
rival sections regarded each other with bitterness ; their animosities 
issued in bloodshed ; civil war raged in Kansas, and infuriated the 
rival sections to the pitch of frenzy. 

Still, healing measures might have been found, if wisdom had 
ruled our public counsels. But here, again, the fatality with which 
our industrial system hedged us round, intervened to drive us on to 
shipwreck. Rotation in office had corrupted our politics, and filled 
public life with swarms of adventurers ; many of the best minds 
were inspired with aversion to politics, and were enticed by the 
speculation incident to our industrial system into the avenues of 
trade; the men of enlarged views who might have steered the ship 
of state through the breakers had remained in private life, scorning 
to plunge into the political cess-pool, or attracted to business in 



240 the world's crisis. 

pursuit of the fortunes so easily won by speculation. As the rule, 
politics -were left to mediocre minds, — excited partisans, whose 
stormy passions delighted in the tempests of faction — or mercenary 
adventurers who followed politics as a trade, battening on the fees 
of applicants for legislation, the brokerage of place-hunting, or 
the corrupt jobs given and promised to their partisans by the rival 
political parties. Such demagogues, from passion, or from interest, 
pandered to the passions of the hour. 

It is needless to trace the operation of these forces in the progress 
of excitement to its final termination. Under such conditions, there 
could be only one result. The voice of reason was unheeded amid the 
war of furious factions ; every measure of pacification failed ; mutual 
animosities were heightened by fresh causes of antagonism ; until fac- 
tion reached its culmination, and the country was plunged into civil war. 

It has now emerged from the conflict, bleeding; exhausted; im- 
poverished; beridden again with Bank and Tariff; its Constitution 
trampled ; Centralization almost an accomplished fact. 

All this has sprung directly from the abnormal industrial system 
fostered by the Bank and Tariff. It gave rise to the alienation of 
the sections; it stimulated the excitability which converted aliena- 
tion into fierce animosity; it caused the degeneracy of politics 
which made the country a prey to greedy adventurers ; it organ- 
ized all the forces, whose combined influence thwarted every attempt 
at conciliation, and led unavoidably to civil strife. The chain of 
causation which led from Bank and Tariff to civil war is unbroken. 
Those measures are responsible for all the political evils that have 
distracted the country, for more than forty years. In the presence 
of the causes induced by our industrial system, the course of events 
was an inevitable fatality. Under existing conditions, no other re- 
sult was possible. 

The Supreme Ruler of events attaches a penalty to every de- 
parture from the principles of morals, and of government. Our 
career might have been a Beacon to guide mankind to the haven 
of Liberty ; it now gleams, a Balefire in the track of Time, lurid 
with battle strife, to warn them of the woes that attend violations 
of the constitutional principles of Republicanism. 



BOOK II. 



PROPOSITION II. 

Our past violations of the Constitution have reacted most inju- 
riously upon FOREIGN NATIONS : fostering a False Industrial 
System throughout the WORLD ; gendering dangerous Social Evils ; 
and strengthening the cause of Absolutism, rescuing it from ruin, and 
giving birth to a 'political reaction eminently dangerous to the cause of 
Liberty and Advancement, 

(241) 



16 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 243 



BOOK II. 

INJURIOUS INFLUENCE OF OUR VIOLATIONS OF THE 
CONSTITUTION UPON THE WORLD. 



PART I. 

INDUSTRIAL EVILS OUR VIOLATIONS OF THE CON- 
STITUTION HAVE INFLICTED ON THE WORLD, BY 
FOSTERING A FALSE INDUSTRIAL SYSTEM. 

The idea of attributing such importance to the policy of the 
United States may strike many minds as an exhibition of absurd 
vanity. The world, while recognizing our rapid growth and reluc- 
tantly according to us a place in the first rank of great nations, has 
never yet perceived the important influence we have exerted in the 
development of this era of industrial progress ; and we have, our- 
selves, modestly accepted the position assigned us in foreign esti- 
mation. We have never realized our commanding influence upon 
the industry of the world ; and an incredulous smile may be the first 
impulse of Americans, when informed that our country has given 
direction to the commercial development of the age. Yet such is 
indubitably the fact. Moreover, our course has diverted commerce 
into a channel adverse to the best interests of mankind. 



24 i the world's crisis. 

CHAPTER I. 

BEITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 

The vast influence of the United States upon the commerce of 
the world will be apparent, from an analysis of the elements of the 
world's commerce, and a brief review of its course of development. 
It will appear that the application of machinery to manufactures 
is the basis of the commerce of the age ; that the productions of the 
United States have been the chief basis of manufactures ; and con- 
sequently, that our national industry is the foundation of the in- 
dustrial progress of the era. 

[As frequent allusion is made in this work to the true principles of 
commerce, this section will be given to the consideration of the subject. 
The general reader may, if he chooses, pass to the next section.] 

Sect. I. — The Elements and Principles of Commerce. 

Commerce is the interchange by which various countries supply 
the deficit of their own productions in the mutual exchange of com- 
modities. The commodities of commerce consist of the raw pro- 
ducts of the earth, agricultural and mineral, and the products of 
manufacturing industry. If the earth everywhere yielded the same 
products, and if the industry of mankind were everywhere occupied 
upon the same commodities, there would be no exchange, either of 
the products of agriculture, or of manufacturing industry. Under 
such circumstances, every nation would supply its own wants. There 
would be little or no commercial interchange between different 
countries. An isolation like that of Japan might universally prevail. — 
The basis of all commerce, therefore, is the variety of production 
incident to diversity of soil and climate. 

But this diversity of production, alone, will not suffice to induce 
commerce. If the population of a country is contented with the pro- 
ducts of their own soil and do not aspire to the possession of any- 
thing beyond what their industry will supply, they will have no 
commerce, however limited that production may be. The wants of 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 245 

a people are the limits of their industry. If their wants are limited 
to the products of their own country, their industry will be limited 
to supplying them. But, as soon as other wants are felt, — as soon 
as they begin to desire articles which they can only obtain from 
abroad, they extend their industry to the production of commodities 
of exchange. Fortunately for the interests of commerce, the desire 
for foreign commodities is generally greater than the ability to pur- 
chase, and every civilized nation, after supplying home wants with 
the products of the soil, strains its industry to the utmost in pro- 
ducing articles which may serve as a basis of exchange for foreign 
commodities. 

But diversity of production and a sense of want, both combined, 
will not induce commercial interchange. However it may appear in 
theory, commerce never consists in an actual interchange of agri- 
cultural products. A poor agricultural country under an unfavorable 
climate may desire the products of a more favored region; but it 
cannot purchase them, for there is no demand for the agricultural 
products it has to offer in exchange. Commodities always consist, 
on one side, at least, of articles of manufacturing industry. Man- 
ufactures are a prime element of commerce. There can be no com- 
merce without manufactures. 

Variety of production incident to diversity of soil and climate, 
the desire of different nations to supply their deficit of home pro- 
duction by foreign importations, and manufactures as the basis of 
exchange, — these three conditions are the prime and indispensible 
elements of commerce. 

Manufactures are the necessary basis of commerce, and they com- 
prise its chief commodities. Commerce originates in manufactures — 
as may be shown by the natural progress of industry, and by the 
experience of the past. 

Primitive industry has but one object, — the production of food. 
Manufactures are unknown. The husbandman tills the earth with a 
rude implement made with his own hands; the skins of animals slain 
for food suffice for clothing; a rude knife and hatchet carved from 
stone with laborious patience answer his few and simple needs. 

The first step from this primitive state is the invention and man- 



246 

ufacture of useful implements and utensils. The art of pottery is 
discovered; the distaff is invented, and rudely manufactured: man- 
kind obtains the use of various necessary utensils, and acquires the 
art of fabricating from the wool of their flocks coarse cloth suited 
to protect them from the inclemency of the seasons. But, still, there 
is no commerce. A rude agriculture is universal, together with the 
care of flocks and herds, and the simple art of house manufactures. 
Each community maintains a small traffic, in which the potter and 
distaff-maker furnish their wares to the surrounding district, in ex- 
change for provisions and home-spun clothes. There is no variety 
of production to give rise to commerce between different districts. 

But now the art of working metal is discovered in some district 
where a mine is wrought ; and knives, and axes, and hoes are made 
from some easily wrought metal. The population engaged in the 
manufacture supply their neighbors, and receive in exchange the 
products of agriculture and home-made manufactures. But here the 
traffic stops. Other districts may desire to obtain the metal imple- 
ments ; but they have only provisions and rude manufactures to offer 
in exchange, with which the miners are already sufficiently supplied. 
The commerce stagnates, from a want of the variety of production 
necessary to form the basis of interchange. 

But necessity is the mother of invention. In some district, skill 
is acquired to produce woolen cloth of finer texture. Few of the 
simple inhabitants of the district can afford to. wear so costly a fab- 
ric ; the surplus produced is offered to the miners in exchange for their 
metallic implements. — In another district the soil is adapted to the 
growth of flax ; a linen manufacture springs up ; and the linen fabrics 
are exchanged for metallic implements. — Another district is adapted 
to the grape ; and the manufacture of wine is established. The three 
districts offer, severally, wines, fine linen, and woolen goods, in ex- 
change for the wares of the metal manufacturers. A commerce springs 
up, based upon the exchange of articles of manufacturing industry. 

But it is evident that this commerce is based upon an improper 
system. The fine woolen and linen fabrics are manufactured by the 
slow hand process, and are too costly for use by any but the rich; 
and, as the common clothing of the metal manufacturers is supplied 
by the coarse fabrics of their own district, they can only import 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 247 

enough of these finer fabrics for the use of their wealthier class. 
This limited demand for their fine fabrics limits the ability of the 
producers to buy ; so that neither district is able to pay for nearly 
metal implements enough to supply the general demand. Even if 
they could sell all the fine fabrics they could manufacture, still, the 
supply would be so limited by the slow process of hand manufacture, 
as to be inadequate to the purchase of all the metal tools needed in 
the several districts. The remedy is obvious. While the metal is 
manufactured at the mine, and exported in a manufactured form, the 
countries which import it must pay in manufactures, the only medium 
of exchange, both for the metal, and for the labor and skill expended 
in the manufacture of the implements. It is the latter which en- 
hances the price. The goods which the mining district consumes 
are sufficient to pay for the raw metal in the unmanufactured state. 
If imported in that condition, smiths can manufacture it in every 
neighborhood into plows, axes, hoes, and knives, and they will 
receive the products of agriculture and coarse home-spun cloth in 
payment. Under this system commerce flourishes : each district 
grows its own agricultural supplies, produces its own wool, and 
manufactures on domestic looms its home-spun clothing ; each pur- 
chases the needy supply of raw metal with a part of its manufac- 
tures ; and they exchange the remainder with each other. 

From this illustration, principles of commerce may be educed, of 
universal application where, manufactures are wrought by hand. 
Some of these we now present : — 

1. Countries can have commercial interchange only in the ratio 
of their diversity of production. Where the products of agricul- 
tural and manufacturing industry are identical, no commerce can exist. 

2. Between countries of the same zone having the same agricul- 
tural products, no commerce can exist, except upon the basis of 
manufactures. In such case, the commodities of commerce consist 
entirely of manufactured articles (accounting wine such), or of the 
raw material of manufactures. 

3. While manufactures are wrought by hand, every country must 
manufacture for itself all articles of general use; and where a 
country has not raw material, it can afford to import raw material 



248 the world's crisis. 

only, not the manufactured article. From this it follows that, while 
manufactures are wrought by hand, the manufactured commodities 
of commerce are limited to costly articles of luxurious consumption. 

It follows from these principles that, between countries of the 
Temperate zone, little or no extensive commerce can exist, while 
manufactures are wrought by hand. Their products are too similar 
to admit of much interchange of agricultural productions. Northern 
Europe might desire the wines of the more Southern countries; but 
it would have no agricultural productions to offer, which were not 
equally produced in the Southern clime. Under such circumstances, 
manufactures must become the basis of commercial intercourse. But 
the slow hand process of manufacturing could not furnish manu- 
factures in sufficient quantities to become the basis of an extensive 
traffic ; and, moreover, goods manufactured by that process are nec- 
essarily so expensive as to place them beyond the reach of the mass 
of community, and restrict their use to the richer class. The slow 
process of manufacturing limits the supply ; and also, by raising the 
price, limits the demand. 

While manufactures are conducted by hand, the only extensive 
commerce consists of the exchange of the products of the Torrid 
and Temperate zones. 

But the want of Tropical demand for the products of Temperate 
industry has always restricted this intercourse within narrow limits. 
The higher latitudes have always desired the luxurious products of 
warmer climates. But the Tropics neither require the agricultural 
products of the Temperate zone, nor the expensive manufactures 
wrought by hand. Their own teeming soil supplies all their wants ; 
and their own skilled industry manufactures the light goods suited 
to their climate, cheaper than they could be furnished by the hand- 
looms of the Temperate latitudes. While manufactures were wrought 
by hand, the only products of the Temperate zone for which the 
Tropics afforded a market were the metallic products of the earth, — 
gold and silver — and trinkets and implements they had not skill to 
fabricate. 

Thus, in the absence of cheap and abundant manufactures, the 
industry of mankind languished. 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 249 

A brief review of the history of commerce will evince the justice 
of the conclusions that have been reached. 

While manufactures were the product of industry unaided by 
machinery, commerce consisted, chiefly, of the interchange of the 
products of the Temperate zone and the Tropics. The traffic between 
Europe and the East Indies has always given life to industry, and 
enriched the nations which have successively carried it on. 

We have no means of knowing the state of European industry, 
before the trade with India was opened ; for that traffic had been 
carried on by the Phoenicians, ages before the date of the earliest 
historic records. The Indian traffic was more flourishing in the pre- 
historic age than ever since. Traces of its grandeur meet the eye in 
great cities along the Mediterranean, which grew up into splendor, 
culminated, declined, and were succeeded by barbarism, before the 
dawn of the earliest historic era. Then flourished Egyptian 
Thebes, with its hundred gates, and its millions of population ; Baal- 
bec, with its colossal structures, whose ruins are the wonder of 
succeeding ages ; the Cyclopean cities of Greece, whose remains 
astonished the historians of a later civilization ; and the marts of 
the ancient Pelasgi, who covered Italy with the monuments of a gi- 
gantic commerce and a flourishing civilization, long before the his- 
toric age. We cannot err in believing the first age of Indian com- 
merce its most flourishing era. The Indies have never needed the 
agricultural products of Europe ; but in that age, the mines of Eu- 
rope furnished the world with its only useful metal. Iron was then 
unknown. All implements were made of bronze, the ancient brass, 
composed of copper hardened by tin. The copper mines of Crete 
and the tin of Cornwall supplied the world with bronze, which was 
the sole metal used for armor, agricultural implements, and household 
utensils. The mineral products of Europe were in demand in the 
Indies, then, in exchange for the Tropical luxuries of the East. The 
bronze of Phoenician commerce stimulated the industry of all the 
world, to obtain it. Every country in Europe and the Indies felt the 
impulse, and eagerly offered the products of their industry in ex- 
change for this necessary metal. These commodities, again, in their 
interchange, swelled the commerce of that age into colossal pro- 
portions. 



250 THE world's crisis. 

Phoenicia, which conducted the European branch of the traffic, 
was one great hive of industry. Its coast was gemmed with cities; 
the sails of Sidon whitened every shore of the Mediterranean, and 
the Western and Northern coast's of Europe. It would appear that 
the Eastern branch of the traffic was divided among many agents 
during this grand commercial era. The peace and prosperity of the 
Assyrian empire during more than a thousand years, and the grand- 
eur and magnificence of Nineveh and other Assyrian cities, attest 
that the main current of the trade poured its flood of wealth upon 
the great empire of antiquity. 

After the discovery of the mode of working iron, that metal was 
gradually introduced ; and, as it superseded bronze in many articles 
of general use, the traffic must have declined from the grand pro- 
portions of the first era. But the interest of the Phoenicians, who 
were then the monopolists of commerce, would prevent, as far as 
possible, the substitution of iron for bronze ; for many articles the 
latter continued in exclusive use ; and the commerce with the East, 
of which the bronze traffic was the basis, continued to flourish, for 
centuries after iron was known. It was still so extensive in the age 
of Solomon, that the control of the Eastern branch of the traffic 
for thirty years, gave to the Hebrew nation an almost fabulous wealth. 
It continued for centuries to enrich, successively, Egypt, Babylon, 
Greece, and Rome. In the age of Augustus it was still flourishing, 
and the tin of Britain was still the basis of the traffic between the 
Mediterranean and Indian oceans. 

The traffic seems gradually to have declined ; probably from the 
discovery of the tin mines of Malacca, which rendered the Indies 
independent of the bronze of Europe. It is difficult to say how far 
the decline of the traffic, by paralyzing the industry of the Roman 
empire, promoted discontent and induced the ceaseless convulsions 
which hastened its decline ; and how far the convulsions of the em- 
pire, by paralyzing industry, hastened the decline of the traffic. But 
the combined influence of these two causes subverted industry, im- 
poverished the Roman empire, and left it incapable of resisting the 
puny assaults of the barbarians of Northern Europe. 

Henceforth, there was little or no commerce between Europe and 
the Tropical regions — and European industry stagnated, and an 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 251 

universal torpor reigned, for centuries. The conquests of the 
Arabs sealed up the usual channels of traffic. Constantinople ob- 
tained a few luxuries from the East, by a circuitous route. — In a 
later a^e, Venice endeavored to restore the traffic across the Isthmus 
of Suez. But Europe had, now, no commodities India wished to 
obtain; the trade was limited; and so far from promoting a revival 
of industry, it only served to drain Europe of the precious metals. 
Such was the state of industry in Europe, during the period em- 
phatically styled the Dark Ages. Little commerce existed between 
different European countries ; for there was little variety of pro- 
duction : little intercourse with the Indies ; for Europe had nothing 
but the precious metals the Indies would receive in exchange. 

The discovery of America and the ocean route to the East by way 
of Cape Good Hope introduced a new era in the commerce between 
the Temperate zone and the Tropics. The area of Tropical pro- 
duction was doubled ; and the cheap route of communication and the 
greater abundance of the supply so diminished the cost of Tropical 
luxuries as to increase their consumption to a vast extent. The 
industry of European countries was stimulated, to produce com- 
modities to exchange for the luxuries of the Tropics ; activity dis- 
placed torpor, and a new era of life and progress dawned upon 
Europe. 

But the traffic was limited by an insurmountable barrier. Europe 
no longer had, as during the Phoenician era, the exclusive possession 
of a metal in general demand in the Tropics. The home production 
of the East Indies supplied their demand for useful metals ; and 
their hand-looms produced manufactures cheaper and of finer texture 
than those of Europe. The East Indies demanded a large balance 
of specie in return for their commodities. Fortunately the mines 
of America, whose products were scattered in profusion by the 
Spanish wars, enabled Europe to export largely of specie, and thus 
prevent the East India trade from languishing. The European 
commerce with the Tropical regions of America was conducted on 
a more advantageous basis : those regions were covered with Euro- 
pean colonies, and consumed largely of European manufactures ; and 
the specie balance sent out from Europe was brought back again by 
the adventurers who returned enriched with Tropical planting, or 



252 the world's crisis. 

died — leaving their wealth to European heirs. The consumption of 
specie in the East India commerce, also, was diminished by the 
manner in which the traffic was conducted. It was engrossed by 
Europeans who returned to Europe with the profits of the trade ; 
and, eventually, extensive districts were subjected by Europeans, 
who wrung from the natives, by taxation, the specie their industry 
had drained from Europe. 

Under such advantageous circumstances, the temperate zone was 
able to maintain a considerable commerce with the tropical regions 
of the earth. The traffic with the East enriched all the nations, — 
the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, the English — who success- 
ively contested, or controlled it. The dormant energies of Europe 
were roused, and the united impulse of mental, moral, and industrial 
activity bore the world onward in the career of modern civilization. 

Still, the conditions under which the traffic was conducted were so 
unfavorable as to restrict commerce within comparatively narrow 
limits. The ability of European countries to consume tropical lux- 
uries was limited by their ability to export specie in exchange ; for, 
notwithstanding the returning current of specie to Europe through 
successful adventurers, a balance still remained in the tropics suf- 
ficient to keep Europe exhausted of the precious metals. The lux- 
uries of the tropics could only be consumed to a limited extent, 
and the stimulus afforded by the traffic to industry, though consider- 
able as compared with the stagnation of the Middle ages, was 
actually confined within very narrow limits. There was no demand 
for European productions in the tropics, and little interchange of 
productions between different countries of Europe. Each country 
manufactured for itself all articles of general use, and the non pro- 
ducers engaged in manufacturing industry consumed the agricul- 
tural products of their respective countries. The commercial com- 
modities of Europe consisted of specie, exports of the torrid zone, 
and a slight interchange of wines and fine fabrics between the dif- 
ferent European countries. 

The inventions of the last hundred years have wrought a new era 
in manufactures, and in commerce. The inventions of the spinning 
jenny ; the power loom ; the steam engine, as applicable to ma- 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 253 

chinery, and steamboats and railroads ; and the cotton gin, — made 
manufactures possible on the most extensive scale. The application 
of machinery to manufactures has already multiplied tenfold the 
commerce of the world, and is continuing to increase it in an accel- 
erating ratio. — And the cotton manufacture, of which the United 
States have furnished the staple, has been the basis of the industry 
and commerce of the age. The industry of our country has been 
the center on which the manufactures of the age have hinged : it has 
furnished the material for the greatest manufacture of the era; that 
which has furthered commerce more than all other branches of in- 
dustry combined. 

That we may derive some definite idea of the vast influence of 
our industry in developing the commerce of the age, let us briefly 
mark the influence of manufactures, as wrought by machinery, upon 
the enlargement of commerce. 

We have seen that manufactures are the basis of all commercial 
interchange ; and that the slow process of hand manufacture dwarfs 
commerce, both by diminishing the supply of manufactures, and by 
limiting the demand for them, owing to the high price necessarily 
demanded. The application of machinery to manufactures inaug- 
urates a new era. It renders manufactures both cheap, and abun- 
dant ; and thus removes the capital obstacles to their becoming the 
basis of extensive commerce. It stimulates commerce in all its 
branches. 

The application of machinery to manufactures vastly increases 
the traffic with the tropics. Under present conditions, manufactures 
are becoming the stimulus to tropical commerce that bronze was 
during the Phoenician era. They are offered in abundance, and at 
prices cheaper than they can be manufactured in the tropics by 
hand. When fabrics suited to Tropical taste and climate, and various 
articles of ornament and use, embracing every variety of material, — 
wood, glass, delf, and steel — are offered at the low rates incident 
to power manufactures, it stimulates the tropics to multiply exports 
as a medium of exchange. This is already its effect ; and it will be 
an increasing tendency, in proportion as the tropical regions ad- 
vance in civilization, and realize to an increased degree necessities 
hitherto in a great measure unknown. 



254 the world's crisis. 

The application of machinery to manufactures vastly increases 
the commerce between countries of the temperate zone, also. In 
the first place, it offers to every country a vastly increased supply 
of tropical luxuries, which, being obtained in exchange for cheap 
manufactures, can be offered at such reduced prices as to bring them 
within the reach of the mass of community. It also greatly en- 
larged the interchange between countries of the temperate zone 
based on manufactures. Manufactures wrought by machinery, from 
their greater cheapness, superseded hand manufactures. The old 
system of household manufactures fell into disuse; thousands of 
handicraftsmen found no longer demand for their art in supplying 
neighboring districts ; the manufactures which used to be wrought 
in every neighborhood were now concentrated in localities convenient 
to transportation and fuel. An active commerce grew up, in for- 
warding raw material and supplies to factories, and receiving manu- 
factured commodities in return. The conditions of commerce were 
entirely changed. The principles which governed traffic during the 
era of hand manufactures were reversed. 

Formerly, in the era of hand manufactures, factories were nec- 
essarily diffused, that the high-priced wares might be paid for in the* 
bountiful products of the soil ; so that neither raw material and 
supplies for operatives, nor the manufactured products of their in- 
dustry, entered into commerce. But, now, the tendency is to the 
concentration of manufactures in localities favorable to their busi- 
ness ; so that raw material and supplies, which formerly were grown 
and consumed in the same locality, are now forwarded to the factory 
in exchange for goods. — Formerly, manufactured articles, which 
constituted the chief basis of commerce, were exclusively articles of 
luxurious consumption. Now, commerce is expanded, supplying 
not merely, the luxury of the great, but the necessities of the 
many. — Formerly, articles of general use were, of necessity, manu- 
factured in the districts where they were consumed; the process 
affording a market for the produce and raw material of the adjacent 
country. Now, articles of general use have become commodities 
of commerce, and manufactures, raw material, and agricultural 

* See the third principle of commerce, page 247. 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 255 

produce, that were, once, all localized, are, now, all commodities 
which swell the activity of commerce. 

The result of all this has been an immense increase of population 
devoted to manufactures, directly, or to some of its auxiliary 
branches, causing a vastly increased consumption of agricultural 
produce. Thousands are engaged in the factories ; thousands, in 
supplying them with fuel ; thousands, in mines, and founderies, 
working metals for machinery, for factories, for ships, for railroads, 
for cities ; thousands, in forwarding provisions and raw material to 
factories, and conveying their products to the consumer ; thousands, 
in building ships, making roads, and erecting cities necessary to the 
traffic ; and multiplied thousands, in cities and towns, and upon ships 
and railroads, engaged in conducting the transfer ; — and all giving em- 
ployment to other thousands, tenfold multiplied, occupied in pro- 
viding for their various wants. 

The tendency of all this is to foster an excessive commercial ac- 
tivity. Formerly, the world suffered from commercial inactivity. 
But the era of manufacturing by machinery is fostering an ex- 
cessive commercial activity, injurious to industry, and dangerous to 
the social condition of mankind. While manufactures were wrought 
by hand, commerce needed to be stimulated ; but under existing con- 
ditions, it needs to be restrained within proper limits and prevented 
from overleaping its boundary, by the strict enforcement of correct 
commercial principles. Chief among these is the principle, that each 
country ought to manufacture its own raw material, and consume its 
own breadstuffs, thus keeping these bulky articles from becoming 
commercial staples. This ought to be a commercial axiom. Its 
strict enforcement is absolutely necessary, in our era, to restrict 
commerce within proper limits, and prevent it from preying upon 
industry, and wrecking the civilization of the age. 

In the next section it will appear fully to what extent the industry 
of the United States has furthered the vast commerce of the age. 
It is sufficient to remark, here, that our industry has been the basis 
of a manufacture that has multiplied tenfold the commerce of the 
earth. 



256 the world's crisis- 

Sect. 2. — British Centralization op Commerce. 

It has been seen how, but for the unfortunate interference of the 
Federal government with the internal industry of the country, we 
should have monopolized the manufacture of our own cotton, and 
derived to ourselves the vast commercial advantages, of which it 
has been the basis. 

Great Britain has great natural advantages for manufacturing, in 
its mines of coal and iron. Its coal mines are especially valuable, as 
affording fuel for steam purposes, and for iron and pottery furnaces. 
These advantages, improved to the utmost by the Saxon energy and 
enterprise of the English people, have enabled Great Britain to 
distance European competition. No European country has such 
advantages. France has iron, but no fuel. Sweden has iron, but 
the charcoal from her forests is too expensive a fuel to enable her 
to compete with British iron in the general market. Germany alone 
of European countries has abundant mines of coal and iron; but they 
are too remote from water facilities for transportation, to come into 
active competition with the manufacturing industry of Britain. 

England has nothing to fear from European competition. The 
United States is the only country which has such natural advantages 
as to render it a formidable commercial rival. During the wars of 
the French Revolution, while the British manufactures were strug- 
gling under the disadvantages of a paper medium, and w T ere bur- 
dened by government with war taxes and an oppressive system of 
legislation, America might have obtained such vantage ground as 
ever after to control the cotton manufacture. Even afterward, 
upon the return of peace in 1815, we had every advantage over the 
British manufacturer. For, even then, British industry struggled 
under great disadvantages. The revenues of the government were 
levied in such a manner as to oppress it ; and the agricultural inter- 
est of Britain was fostered at the expense of her manufactures, by 
duties levied on importations of foreign raw material and grain. 
But we were deprived of every advantage which nature and the ill- 
advised policy of the English government gave us, by the worse 
conceived policy of our own. Prices inflated by a paper currency, 
by tariff duties, and by the diversion of industry induced by the 
American system, rendered it impossible for us to embark exten- 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 257 

sively in manufacturing industry. We, her only possible rival, left 
the field to England without a competitor, and suffered her to monop- 
olize the cotton manufacture, which should have been our own. By 
relinquishing the cotton manufacture to England, we have sunk into the 
position of a satellite of British enterprise, and enabled that country 
to concentrate in its hands the manufacturing industry of the world. 

The extent to which the cotton of the United States has been the 
basis of British manufacturing industry and commercial enterprise 
may be readily seen. 

The United States and Great Britain have been the chief agents 
in carrying forward the grand career of commercial enterprise which 
characterizes our era. Great Britain has become the great manu- 
facturer, and, hence, the grand commercial agent of the world; 
and the cotton of the United States has been the foundation of 
British manufacturing industry. That the cotton of the United 
States has been the basis of the manufacturing industry of Great 
Britain, and, consequently, of its commercial grandeur, is evident 
from the statistics of British commerce. 

The commerce of Great Britain has grown at such an even pace 
with her cotton manufactures, as to show an intimate connection 
between the amount of her cotton exports and the extent of her 
commerce. Cotton manufactures, during the whole of the manu- 
facturing era, have compromised little less than one-half of her en- 
tire exports inclusive of tropical luxuries and all other manufactures. 

But this statement does not show the extent to which the com- 
merce of Great Britain has been based upon cotton. In 1834, the 
entire exports of Great Britain amounted to a little over £41,000,000, 
of which cotton manufactures comprised £20,503,585, about one- 
half of the whole. The remaining exports consisted of nearly 
£9,000,000 worth of woolen and linen goods; a little over £4,000,000 
worth of metals, chiefly iron and steel ; the rest of the exports con- 
sisted chiefly of articles of luxurious consumption, — tobacco, wines, 
and tropical luxuries imported into the country, a portion consumed, 
and the remainder, amounting to over £7,000,000, re-exported. 

Now, let us estimate the effect upon British commerce of with- 
drawing the cotton supply. 

17 



258 the world's crisis. 

The whole value of the cotton manufactures of Great Britain, in 
1834, amounted to £34,000,000, of which, as has been stated, £20, 
000,000 in round numbers was exported, and £14,000,000 consumed 
in supplying the home demand. Without the cotton manufacture, 
therefore, Great Britain would have been deprived of £20,000,000 
of experts, and £14,000,000 of cotton clothing. The latter must 
have been supplied by linen and woolen fabrics ; which would, at 
least, consume the £9,000,000 of linen, and woolen exports. De- 
ducting the £20,500,000 of cotton exports, and the £9,000,000 of 
woolen and linen exports, whose place was taken by cotton fabrics, 
the exports of Great Britain fall from £41,000,000 to £11,000,000. 

This estimate shows that three-fourths of British commerce was 
based on the cotton manufacture. But even this does not show the 
full extent to which the commerce of Great Britain rests upon cot- 
ton. The only native raw material of Britain consists of the produce 
of her mines, and the earths suited to the manufacture of porcelain. 
The country did not in 1834, nor does it now, produce wool, flax, 
hides, tallow, etc., sufficient for domestic consumption. With ex- 
ports diminished to the value of her own raw material, England 
would not have had the means to purchase enough raw material from 
abroad, even for domestic consumption, much less to be manufac- 
tured for exportation. Not only would she fail to export silks, 
leather, wine, tobacco, etc.; she would not be able to import enough 
to supply the wants of her own people. Hence, we must deduct 
silk, leather, tobacco, and wines, from the sum of her exports, re- 
ducing them considerably below £11,000,000. 

Deducting the exports based upon the cotton manufacture, the 
exports of England, in 1834, will consist only of her native pro- 
ducts, — earthenware, and metals, iron, steel, copper, tin ; and the 
productions of her tropical dependencies. But both these branches 
of exports are increased by the cotton manufacture. An extensive 
demand for English iron was induced by the necessities of the era 
of commerce, in building ships, and roads, and cities, engaged in 
the traffic; and a very considerable increase of tropical production 
was induced by the stimulus of cotton goods exported to the trop- 
ics. If the consumption of the British islands continued the same, 
the residue of English exports in 1834, after deducting all that 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 259 

were based on her cotton industry, would be very inconsiderable, 
indeed. 

In point of fact, however, British exports would not actually fall 
to the low ebb this estimate would indicate. The country would be 
more economical in the use of foreign supplies. The immense ex- 
ports of the country induced an extravagant consumption of wines, 
tobacco, and tropical luxuries. Thus, of 22,000,000 pounds of 
coffee, imported in 1834, all except 768,000 pounds was consumed 
in the country ; of 38,000,000 pounds of tobacco imported, 21,000, 
000 pounds were consumed ; of 9,000,000 gallons of wine imported, 
6,000,000 gallons were consumed; of 4,700,000 pounds of sugar 
imported, 3,700,000 pounds were consumed. This excessive con- 
sumption of articles of luxury was induced by the immense exports 
based on the cotton manufacture. In the absence of those exports, 
Britain would consume fewer tropical luxuries ; a greater quantity 
would be re-exported in exchange for raw products for the supply 
of necessary home wants. But the aggregate of its commerce 
would be greatly diminished. We are within the mark, when we 
estimate that three-fourths of the commerce of Great Britain, during 
the last thirty years, has been based upon the cotton manufacture. 

In suffering Great Britain to monopolize the cotton manufacture, 
we have inflicted the most serious injury upon the commercial in- 
terests of mankind. The possession of the cotton manufacture 
enabled Great Britain to inaugurate a commercial centralization 
ruinous to the best interests of commerce. She already controlled 
the trade with the tropics ; she now monopolized all the commerce 
derived from manufactures, also. 

In 1834, the commercial system which has since grown to such 
vast proportions, was in its incipiency. From the unrivaled cheap- 
ness of the material and the excellence of the fabric, cotton goods 
were in universal demand. In exchange for its cotton fabrics, 
Britain obtained raw material from all the world. — Wool for her 
factories was brought from Spain, Saxony, South America, and 
Australia; raw hides were purchased everywhere, and tan-bark was 
imported, to tan them into leather, to be manufactured into shoes 
for the foreign market ; straw, for hats and bonnets, was imported 



260 

from Italy ; goat's hair, for shawls, from Asia ; flax and hemp, from 
Russia, Holland, and other European states ; raw silk, from France, 
Turkey, and Italy. Every product of the earth was brought to 
England for manufacture. She grasped the raw material of the 
whole world, rejecting nothing, and assimilating everything in her 
capacious industry. Nothing came amiss : the horns of animals 
were purchased, to be manufactured into glue; beeswax, tallow, 
rosin, vegetable, animal, and fish oils, ashes, bark, dyestuffs, rags, 
timber, flaxseed, bristles, furs, — were all purchased wherever offered, 
to be used in her manufactures, or re-exported as articles of com- 
merce. 

Britain trades with all nations, and supplies every country with 
manufactures of every kind, and with the useful and luxurious pro- 
ductions of every quarter of the globe. The commerce of the age 
made railroads necessary to carry it on — and Britain offered her 
iron to build them. New cities were founded, and old towns grew 
up into cities — and Britain furnished the iron, and the timber neces- 
sary for their construction. These various branches of industry 
developed the population of the British isles, until the native agri- 
culture did not suffice for its consumption ; and butter, cheese, fruits, 
breadstuff's, and meats, are imported in immense quantities from all 
over Europe and America. Two-thirds of the exports of Great 
Britain consist of goods manufactured from foreign raw material ; 
and she requires $600,000,000 of annual importations to supply 
the population with food and clothing. It is estimated that one- 
third of the population of the British Isles is dependent upon grain 
supplies from abroad. We have here the anomalous spectacle 
of a nation without raw material for her factories or provisions for 
her operatives becoming, by dint of energy, the great manufac- 
turer ; and without commodities of her own, the commercial agent 
of the world. The different nations have little direct intercourse ; 
but exchange with each other through the intervention of England. 
England is the world's merchant, manufacturer, market; the gen- 
eral purveyor, and agent of mankind. England is a party to all 
the great commercial transactions of the world. She furnishes 
every nation with all it wishes to buy, and purchases every thing it 
wishes to sell. Laboring under every disadvantage, — without food 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 261 

for operatives, raw material for manufactures, or timber for ships, 
her sagacity, energy, and capital, seconded by the follies of other 
nations, have overcome all obstacles, and enabled her, in defiance of 
nature and all the laws of industry, to achieve a gigantic monopoly 
of the manufactures and commerce of the world. Never before 
have industry and commerce been so diverted from their natural 
channels, to be centralized, in defiance of all natural laws, in the 
hands of a single nation. 

The following sketch of the vast and rapidly increasing commerce 
of Great Britain, is drawn by an English pen and presents by no 
means an overdrawn picture of the colossal centralization of indus- 
try Great Britain has attained. 

" It is a remarkable position England occupies in the world. A 
little spot amid the Northern Seas, almost invisible to the school- 
boy as he seeks for it on his globe, and which, inadvertently, he 
may hide with his finger point as he turns round the colored sphere, 
the British Isles are, nevertheless, the heart of the world, the cen- 
ter to which the thoughts and acts of men most generally tend, and 
to, and from which, the streams of material life are ever flowing. 
If we draw on a map the great lines of commerce, we will see what 
a large proportion of them converge to our shores. It was once a 
proverb that " all roads lead to Rome;" and England, commercially, 
holds in the world the same predominant position which the Eternal 
City held in the restricted area of the Roman Empire. Our coun- 
try is the chief goal of the highways of commerce. Caravans with 
their long strings of laden camels and horses, are ceaselessly cross- 
ing the plains and deserts of Asia, — railway trains drawn by the 
rapid fire car rush across Europe and America with their freight of 
goods, — and ships in thousands bring to us, from all parts of the 

world, the staple supplies of our food and industry England . . . 

furnishes employment to tens of millions of people in the uttermost 
parts of the earth, — the Chinaman in his tea plantations and mul- 
berry gardens — the Hindoo in his rice and cotton fields — the poor 
Indian miner on the Andes — the Guacho as he follows his herds on 
the Pampas — even the Negro of Africa, and the natives of the far 
and fair islands of the Pacific 

" China sends raw silk and tea ; India sends cotton, indigo, 

and rice. We get our spices from the Philippine Islands ; almost 
all our coffee from Ceylon ; a portion of our cotton from Egypt ; 
hides, chiefly from the pampas of Buenos Ayres ; wool, chiefly from 
Australia, and the Cape; wood, from the northern countries of 



262 the world's crisis. 

America and Europe; flax and tallow from Russia; corn, chiefly 
from the United States and Russia ; and the precious metals, from 
Australia, California, Mexico, and the Andes of Peru. Of our ex- 
ports, we send beer to India and Australia; coal, to many places, to 
supply coaling stations for steam vessels, but chiefly to France. We 
send cotton-yarn for manufacture to India, Holland, and Germany ; 
and cotton piece-goods to the United States and Brazil. Our hard- 
wares and cutlery go chiefly to Australia, India, and the United 
States ; and our woolen and worsted goods to the United States, 
India and China, Germany, British North America, and Australia." 

" We are the great carriers for the world. Thirty thou- 
sand ships sailing under the flag, or bearing the cargoes of England, 
are ever on the seas, going and coming from all parts of the globe. 

From the Thames, the Mersey, the Tyne, the Humber, and 

the Clyde, argosies and commercial armadas are ever leaving, and 
jostle in our estuaries with similar squadrons making to port. The 
shores of these estuaries, lined with miles of docks and building 
yards, ring with the clang of hammers; and vast ribs of wood and 
iron curving upward from still vaster keels show where leviathan ves- 
sels are being got ready for their adventurous career In our 

home and foreign trade, taken together, w T e have fully 20,000 ships, 
with a tonnage of four and a half millions, and employing 175,000 
men. Both classes of our ships, both steam and sailing, are regu- 
larly increasing in numbers. In both kinds of vessels, too, there is 
a steady increase in size. Comparing the present amount of our 
shipping with what it was in 1850, we find that we have eleven per 
cent, more ships, forty-four per cent, more tonnage, and fifteen per 
cent, more men. 

" Our little islands no longer suffice for us. Our energies 

have far overpassed their limits. There is room for us to live and 
work here, — that is all. These islands are our house and garden, 
but our farm is detached. Or rather, we have no farm of our own, 
but draw our supplies from the farms of all our neighbors. We live 
upon the world." 

The British centralization of commerce is progressing in a rap- 
idly-increasing ratio. In 1842 the imports and exports amounted 
to £131,000,000; in 1850, they had increased to £200,000,000; in 
1856, to £288,000,000; in 1860, to £346,000,000; in 1863, not- 
withstanding the cotton famine, they amounted to £395,000,000; in 
1864, to £440,000,000; and, in 1866, to £500,000,000. The com- 
merce of Great Britain has quadrupled in the last twenty-five years, 
and almost doubled in the last ten years. A few years more of this 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 263 

rapid increase will concentrate the commerce of almost the whole 
world in the hands of England. 

The injury this monopoly inflicts upon the industry of mankind 
is but too evident. 

The monopoly of manufactures maintained by England oppresses 
commerce with multiplied charges. She imports cotton, wool, silk, 
flax, and many other kinds of raw materials, to be sent back, in 
many instances, in a manufactured state, to the countries whence 
they were obtained. She sells shoes to Brazil and Norway, made 
of leather, tanned in England, with Norwegian tan-bark, from the 
hides of Brazilian cattle ; sells silks to Italy, woven from Italian 
cocoons; furnishes cutlery to Sweden, made of Swedish iron; sup- 
plies Germany and Spain with broadcloths, woven from Saxon, and 
Spanish wool; sells linens to Russia, manufactured from Russian 
flax ; and buys the cotton of the United States, imports American 
food for her operatives, and American oil for her machinery, and 
pays us back with a part of our cotton manufactured into goods. 

The system of gathering raw material and provisions from all 
countries, to enable England to manufacture for the world, is in vio- 
lation of all the laws of industry. In this age of manufactures, the 
only true principle of industry, as we have seen, is for each nation, 
as far as possible, to manufacture its own raw material. This would 
give each country a home market for its raw material and agricul- 
tural productions. These bulky articles would be withdrawn from 
commerce, and all countries would mutually exchange, on equal 
terms, the products of their manufacturing industry. There would, 
then, be no centralization of commerce, no inequality of prices, no 
oppression of monopoly. 

In contrast with this, how injurious the system of monopoly in- 
augurated by England. What a heavy tax upon the industry of the 
world is involved in the shipment and reshipment, back and forth, 
of raw material and manufactures, with heavy profits levied upon 
the commodities at every stage. How much cheaper for Brazil to 
tan its own leather, and manufacture its own shoes, than to send 
hides to England, to have them manufactured there. How much 
cheaper for the United States to manufacture its own cotton, instead 



264 the world's crisis. 

of sending cotton, oil, and provisions, across the Atlantic, to enable 
England to do it. To import raw material and provisions, system- 
atically, for the purpose of manufacturing for exportation, is false 
in principle, and ruinous in practice. It unduly dilates commerce, 
and is bankrupting the countries which export raw products in ex- 
change for manufactured commodities. 

The idea that such a system is beneficial to the world, merits no 
refutation but the reduetio ad ahsurdum. If it is advantageous, 
carry it out to its full extent. Let everything be made a commer- 
cial commodity ! As well export corn to England, to be distilled 
into whisky for our use, or wheat, to be manufactured into flour 
for our consumption, as any other raw product. As well export 
wheat, to obtain flour, as hides and tan-bark, to get shoes. England 
had as well become the miller, the baker, the distiller, for the world, 
as be the world's weaver and shoemaker. If this system of com- 
merce is advantageous to the nations engaged in it, promotive of 
their prosperity, and encouraging to their industry, make every raw 
product an article of commerce, and increase the commercial activ- 
ity still further. Let every country ship its tallow to England, and 
get candles in return ; its Petroleum, and get back the refined pro- 
duct ; its corn, in exchange for meal and spirits ; its Wheat, for flour 
and crackers and farina ; its apples, for cider and brandy ; its sugar 
and fruits, to be made into candy and preserves ; and let the world 
ship its pigs to England, and send corn to fatten them, and take pay 
in bacon ! It will vastly increase the commerce of the world, and 
will, of course, develop the wealth and promote the welfare of all 
the nations engaged in the exchange ! 

The present monopoly of England is equally injurious ; it is only 
less odious in being confined within narrower limits. It oppresses 
the industry of every other country, for the benefit of England. It 
renders England the market of the world. Foreign commodities 
are worth the price of the English market less the charges of spec- 
ulators and the cost of transportation. The English farmer gets 
nearly double the price for his wheat that the American farmer real- 
izes ; about twice the Brazilian price for his wool ; and twice the 
Russian price for his flax. At the same time he only pays for his 
manufactures half their cost to the foreign purchaser. This arises 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF COMMERCE. 205 

from the fact that other countries buy their manufactures from En- 
gland, and sell her their raw products. The English producer ob- 
tains inflated prices ; for he adds to the foreign price the profits of 
shippers and speculators : the foreign producer must sell at de- 
pressed prices ; for he must deduct from the English market rate 
the profits of speculators and the cost of transportation. The 
foreign consumer, also, pays double the English price for goods ; for 
he must meet the accumulated expenses of transportation. 

Nations sell their raw produce, not because it is advantageous, 
but because it is a necessity fOr want of capital to manufacture. 
Every country manufactures its own flour, and distills its own grain, 
because it requires no great amount of capital to erect a mill or a 
distillery. It should equally manufacture its flax, its wool, its cot- 
ton. Lack of capital should not prevent. Nations will never acquire 
the necessary amount of capital by allowing themselves to be slowly 
reduced to bankruptcy by a disadvantageous system of commerce. 
Every country can command sufficient capital for any necessary 
object. Wars are never checked for want of money; improvement 
need not be. States extend aid to railroad companies, because 
roads are deemed necessary to the public welfare. On the same 
principle, states should prevent themselves from being reduced to 
bankruptcy, by loaning their credit, if necessary, to incorporated 
companies, organized for the purpose of manufacturing the raw ma- 
terial of the country. 

If other countries were wise enough to manufacture their own 
raw material, the English farmer would cease to receive inflated 
prices, and the foreign producer would be able to sell at fair rates. 
Prices would be equalized all over the world. England would not 
be pampered at the expense of other countries. 

Manufactures, also, would be much lower than now. Although the 
foreign producer receives for provisions and raw material far less 
than a reasonable price, they cost the English manufacturer much 
more; and he must indemnify himself by demanding the higher 
price for his goods. Thus all the world sells cheap and buys dear 
for the sole benefit of England. England alone profits by the sys- 
tem. Her speculators who gather the raw material, make money 
by it ; her shippers make money by it ; her import merchants, her 



266 the world's crisis. 

manufacturers, her export merchants, her outward bound ships, — all 
make money by it ; above all, her farmers, and her aristocracy who 
rent their lands, make money by it. What matters it to her that 
other countries buying manufactures, too dear, and selling raw pro- 
ducts too cheap, are being more impoverished by the traffic, every 
year. The Old Man of the Sea rides merrily astride the shoulders 
of the World, and cares not though his victim groan and writhe. 
There he sits, and there he will continue to sit, unless when drunken 
with prosperity an opportunity occur to unseat him. He must be 
unseated, or his victim perishes. It is the monopoly of England 
against the prosperity of the World. One or the other must go 
down. 



CHAPTER II. 

BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 

The possession of our cotton has not only enabled Great Britain 
to centralize the commerce of the world ; it has placed that country 
in a position, in which it is centralizing the wealth of the world. 
The British commercial aristocracy are rapidly engrossing the 
wealth of the world in their hands. 

England has engrossed the profits of the trade between the tem- 
perate zone and the tropics ; the profits of manufacturing industry; 
and the profits of the carrying trade of the world, — three branches 
of industry which ought never to be concentrated in the same hands. 
Either of them is sufficient to enrich a single country overmuch ; all 
combined are concentrating the wealth of the whole earth in the 
hands of Great Britain. The profits arising from this centraliza- 
tion of commerce have enabled Great Britain to become the cred- 
itor of almost every country on earth. As England is growing 
richer, the rest of the world is becoming relatively impoverished ; 
and if the same course of traffic continues, Britain will, at no very 
distant day, become the actual owner in fee simple of all the property 
in the world, and mankind will become her tenants, paying rents 
and interest upon property of every kind. 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 267 

This is no exaggeration, as may be easily shown. 

If England were merely dealing in the commodities of other 
countries, her profits, as a merchant, would be immense. But the 
articles in which she deals as a merchant, buying and selling again, 
by no means comprise the bulk of her commerce. A large propor- 
tion of her exports, nearly one-third, consist of manufactures 
wrought from her own -raw material, in which the entire price is 
clear profit to the nation. Her other exports, fully two-thirds of the 
whole, consist of articles manufactured from foreign raw material, 
in which the first cost of the purchased material bears but a small 
proportion to the price of the manufactured product. We are, 
here, not to account the profit of the manufacturer the sole profit of 
Great Britain. The British profit is the difference between the cost 
of the raw material, as purchased abroad, and the price of the man- 
ufactured article, as sold in the foreign market; for the profits of 
importing the raw material and exporting the manufactured pro- 
duct, are reaped by British* merchants and shippers. 

The aggregate profits of all these branches of industry are im- 
mense, and they are concentrating the wealth of the whole earth in 
the hands of England. 

Mankind, however, will be slow to admit this fact. The laws of 
commerce, are as yet, but little understood ; the idea of a single na- 
tion reducing the world to bankruptcy, by engrossing all traffic, and 
all wealth in its own hands, is a novelty in human experience ; and 
man is slow to accept facts which are, at once, contrary to past ex- 
perience, contradictory of the laws of commerce as at present un- 
derstood, and full of unpleasant conviction. 

It will be urged that, if the profits of Great Britain are immense, 
the expenditure of the nation is equally great; that immense im- 
portations are made of articles of necessary consumption ; that the 
extravagance in the use of luxuries is beyond parallel ; that these 

* In this estimate, it is assumed that the entire commerce of the British 
islands is carried on in British bottoms. This is the fact for all purposes of 
this estimate; for though foreign vessels do a large amount of traffic in British 
ports, this is more than counterbalanced by the greater amount of traffic done 
by British vessels between the ports of foreign countries, which is not counted 
in the estimate. 



268 the world's crisis. 

importations, together with the cost of her imported raw material, 
consume her profits, and maintain the indispensable equipoise in the 
balance of trade. 

But it must be remembered that the situation of England is such 
that the highest individual extravagance comports with economy of 
national expenditure. From causes hereafter to be mentioned, 
economy of expenditure is the rule with the British aristocracy. 
And from the commercial condition of the country, the greater part 
of the extravagance of the wealthy classes is in the use of native 
products. Extravagance in horses, in furniture, in apparel, in car- 
riages, constitute the greater part of the general expenditure, and 
this does not go out of the country. An Englishman receives the 
money an Englishman spends. 

This economy of national expenditure is promoted by the policy 
of the British government, which so levies its revenue as to vastly 
increase the price of many articles of general use, and thus dimin- 
ish their consumption. For instance, the English people would 
consume largely of tobacco and foreign liquors; but the gov- 
ernment represses the consumption of these articles, by levying 
extravagant duties upon their importation. By this means, the 
consumption of foreign products is carefully kept within such 
bounds as to keep the balance of trade always largely in favor of 
England. 

But it will be urged that the statistics of British commerce show 
that the importations vastly exceed the exports ; so that, unless the 
balance of trade is an illusion, the commerce of England, every 
year, exhibits a balance against her. This, however, is easily ex- 
plained. The following table exhibits the statistics of British com- 
merce during a series of years : 





Imports. 


Exports. 


1854 = 


£152,590,000 


: £105,833,000 


1855 = 


143,660,000 


. 116,701,000 


1856 = 


172,544,000 


139,220,000 


1857 = 


187,646,000 


145,419,000 


1861 = 


210,000,000 


121,000,000 


1862 = 


226,592,000 : 


196,516,000 


1863 = 


248,989,000 


146,489,768 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 269 

Daring the last thirteen years, the imports of England have ex- 
ceeded her exports by four thousand millions of dollars. But we 
are by no means to suppose that this indicates a balance of trade 
against her, and that she is a loser to that amount by her commerce. 
On the contrary, this excess of importations exhibits the immense 
profits of British commerce. In her commerce, Britain combines 
three characters : manufacturer, merchant, and shipper. Her traf- 
fic is chiefly carried on in British vessels, and by British merchants, 
who reap the profits of the transportation and transfer of the ex- 
ported goods. The seeming balance of trade against her merely 
represents the profits of her merchants and shippers. The manner 
in which the profits of Britain are augmented by her commercial 
marine may be readily illustrated. 

A British vessel sails for Canada with $100,000 worth of goods 
at British valuation, which are sold at Quebec for $120,000. The 
captain of the vessel receives in payment $20,000 in Canadian 
bonds, and $100,000 worth of grain, peltries, and lumber, worth in 
the British ports $125,000. Here the value in the British port, of 
the imported cargo, is one fourth greater than that of the exported 
goods. And yet the balance of trade is $20,000 in favor of En- 
gland, as represented by the Canadian bonds. 

But this does not show the extent of British profits. A large 
portion of them are acquired in trading between foreign ports. A 
British vessel, for instance, sails to Rio Janeiro with a cargo, worth, 
at a home valuation, $150,000. The cargo is sold for $180,000; of 
which $20,000 is paid in gold, the rest ($160,000) in a cargo of 
sugar, coffee, and other tropical productions : the vessel sails to 
New Orleans, where this cargo is sold for $185,000; $20,000 in 
Louisiana bonds, and the remainder ($165,000), in cotton, worth in 
the Liverpool market $215,000. Here the ship brings back goods 
worth 65,000 more than the exported cargo ; and still the voyage 
has left a balance of exchange of $40,000 against foreign countries. 

From this it appears that the $4,000,000,000 excess of imports 
over exports represent a portion, only, of the profits English mer- 
chants and shippers have derived, during the last thirteen years, from 
foreign nations. It does not represent their entire profits ; for, as 
we have seen, large additional profits have been realized as repre- 



270 

sented in bonds and specie imported. Furthermore, this does not 
include the profits the merchants derive from their own people, to 
whom they sell the imported goods at an advance over the import 
price; they thus obtain, at last, all the money the laboring class 
receive from their employers, and all the money expended by all 
classes of English. !Nor does it include the profits of the manu- 
facturers. 

The vast extent of these profits is apparent from the rapid growth 
of individual and public wealth. 

The increased wealth of England, when the subject is divested 
of commercial technicalities, is the increased wealth of her people. 
Her manufacturers, her merchants, her shippers, her landowners, 
her bankers, all have incomes, derived, directly or indirectly, from 
the foreign traffic, largely exceeding their expenditure. The aggre- 
gate excess of all their incomes over their expenditure, represents 
the profits of England, which are chiefly invested in loans to foreign 
nations. England is continually absorbing the wealth of the world, 
and the clear profits of all her capitalists is the measure of the 
rapidity with which the process of absorption is going on. 

These capitalists bestow a part of their profits in enlarging their 
business ; the rest they invest. The increase of their business, and 
the increase of their investments, is the sum of the net profits of 
British commerce. 

If Britain realized no other profits than those invested in the in- 
crease of the national business, this alone would be an immense 
profit. The area of her commerce is continually extending, and she 
is annually increasing the amount of capital embarked in various 
branches of industry. Every year, more factories are built, and 
larger supplies of raw material are purchased; every year, she 
builds more ships, and offers to every country greater amounts of 
merchandise and manufactures, and asks more merchandise and raw 
material in return. A nation, like an individual, which is annually 
increasing its business without borrowing capital is getting rich; 
that is, its annual income exceeds its expenditure. Some idea of 
the vast profits of British industry may be formed from this im- 
mense development of the national industry. Her manufacture of 
native material has been increased as rapidly as markets could be 



CENTRALIZATION OF BRITISH WEALTH. 271 

opened for them ; and her manufacture of all foreign raw material 
has been limited only by the supply she found it possible to obtain. 
In 1817, of raw cotton, there was imported 126 million pounds ; 
288 million pounds, in 1832 ; while in 1860, the importation had 
risen to 1391 million pounds. Her exports, which in 1834, only 
amounted to §200,000,000, had increased, in 1860, to $680,000,000 ; 
and in 1863, notwithstanding the drawback of the cotton famine, to 
§732,000,000. Her shipping has increased in the same ratio. In 
1792, it was 1,186,000 tons, and was thought to be overgroAvn, and 
bound to decline : but in 1834, it reached 2,716,000 tons ; and in 
1864, it has developed to 4,500,000 tons. 

But the increase of her commerce by no means shows the full 
extent of the increase of the wealth of Great Britain. Her accu- 
mulated wealth has sought every possible mode of investment. It 
has outgrown the wants of traffic, and has sought investment in 
every quarter of the globe. 

The Continental nations of Europe have, during the last twenty 
years, been maintaining an armed peace, and have increased their 
debts at the rate of $300,000,000 annually ; amounting to an aggre- 
gate increase of more than $6,000,000,000; and British capitalists 
have lent a large proportion of the money. — 

But this is not all : British capitalists have been advancing money 
to all the world, in aid of internal improvements. A city wishes to 
build sewers, but has not the money to carry out its object : it sub- 
scribes the stock, bearing an annual interest, and English capitalists 
will take it at a discount, furnish the necessary funds, and pocket 
the city taxes ever after. A city wishes to build water works : it 
has only to subscribe the stock, and English capitalists will furnish 
the money, send out the iron pipes, and own the water rates for all 
time to come. A gas company is formed without the cash capital 
to meet all the expenses of the undertaking : England will take its 
bonds, send out retort and gas pipes, and the gas rates are hers. 
The borrowing of money from England has been reduced to a sys- 
tem. No railroad company expects to meet all its expenses in cash; 
for England will always furnish the iron, upon state and county 
bonds. Every joint stock company formed for whatever object, — 



272 the world's crisis. 

mining, building ships, improving cities, or building roads, — expects 
to obtain necessary capital from England, to carry out its objects. 

Still, many will maintain that there is no danger : that the balance 
of trade is a necessity ; that England must permit every foreign 
country to meet its liabilities by the exportation of produce ; other- 
wise they would soon be compelled by bankruptcy to economize. 
Hence, by many, the idea that England is impoverishing the rest of 
the world will be scouted as visionary. It will be maintained that, 
if England did not suffer other nations to keep the balance even, 
she would soon break down her commerce. The nations would soon 
be exhausted of their capital, and be compelled to cease trading with 
her : having nothing wherewith to buy, they must cease to import 
British commodities. Hence, it is argued, that England must annu- 
ally pay out to other countries as much as she receives from them, 
or her commerce would break down in a few years. 

This view of the question is plausible. But, of late years, the 
balance of trade is beginning to be regarded by many statesmen as 
a myth. Nations have gone on for years buying annually from 
England to the amount of millions more than their exports would 
pay for ; and yet money continues abundant, and their prosperity 
shows no visible marks of decline. From these facts, many states- 
men treat the balance of trade as a fallacy of past ages, — a bugbear 
of our fathers, invented to induce economy, — but which the advance 
of political economy has exploded. 

The Balance of Trade is a stern reality. And yet nations have 
gone on buying more than they sell, for years together, without a 
crash. The Balance of Trade is a reality. Yet England continues, 
year after year, to sell to her customers more than she buys of them. 
How does England, then, keep up the balance of trade ? She must, 
by the fixed laws of commerce, import and retain in the country an 
equivalent for all she sends abroad. She does; but a large part of 
her imports are foreign bonds and promises to pay. 

This is the way the outside world is maintaining the balance of 
trade with England. They buy more than their exports will pay 
for, and settle the balance with interest bearing bonds. This is the 
solution of the balance of trade enigma, which has so puzzled 
statesmen. 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 273 

England is adopting every measure to lull the world into a fatal 
security. English statesmen have led the cry against the balance 
of trade. They say that statistics show a balance of trade against 
almost all countries ; that it is greater against England and the 
United States, than any others ; and yet, these are the two most 
prosperous countries in the world. Thus, they maintain that the 
logic of facts disproves the fallacy our fathers believed ; and that an 
adverse balance of trade, so far from being a source of danger to a 
country, is actually a benefit, — a source of prosperity. 

So argue the crafty statesmen of Britain for the ear of foreign 
nations ; intent upon allaying apprehensions that would endanger 
the monopoly of wealth maintained by their country, and increasing 
in a ratio eminently dangerous to all foreign nations. They know 
well that the excess of British imports represents the profits of the 
British marine ; and that the imports of the United States in excess 
of exports have kept the country perpetually drained of the precious 
metals, and brought it deeply into debt to England. But it is not 
for them to utter the truth so full of warning. They suppress or 
discolor every fact calculated to excite apprehension. Lately, the 
profits of British trade have increased so rapidly that the money 
cannot find safe investment, and the rate of interest has sunk as 
low as two per cent. There is a glut of money in England ; but, 
lest the nations should take alarm at the excessive aggregation of 
wealth, the London Times tries to conceal the true cause, — wealth 
increasing faster than the means of investment, — and attributes the 
flood of money in the market to a want of confidence in the invest- 
ments that offer. This is but in keeping with the general policy of 
British craft. 

British statesmen say there is no danger in an adverse balance of 
trade : for the countries against which it stands still buy as freely as 
ever; commerce meets no check; money continues abundant; pros- 
perity knows no diminution. They know "well what makes com- 
merce flow so smoothly, unchecked by an adverse balance of trade. 
The astute policy of England is systematized into a science. A 
foreign country — the United States, for example — is extravagant, 
and imports more than it exports will pay for. If we were required 
to pay the entire balance with gold every year, this would, in a year 
18 



274 

or two, induce a crash, and so far compel economy, as to force us 
to live within our means and reduce our imports to the measure of 
our exports. But the watchful British Board of Trade keeps an 
eye upon the balance, and informs British capitalists that additional 
credit must be extended to America, or trade will suffer. The next 
American railroad that is built can get funds in England for its 
bonds ; and in obedience to the directions of the Board of Trade, 
the balance is afterward kept more nearly even, by letting us have 
goods, railroad iron, gas and water pipes, in exchange for bonds. 
Thus it is England enables the rest of the world to keep the bal- 
ance even and avoid a crash. In European countries, when the 
commercial deficit cannot be supplied by advances to public improve- 
ments, British capitalists lend gold to the needy governments, or 
send out specie to be invested in government bonds or mortgages 
of private * property. In this manner England craftily keeps the 
world oblivious of the tendency of commerce. She never suffers 
any country to be driven to economize, and thereby depress her 
commerce; but distributes the gold she gathers by commerce, in 
advances for public improvements, purchases of state and national 
bonds, or loans to individuals. 

The Economist, the highest British authority in all questions of 
industry, estimates the annual national savings at £130,000,000, or 
$650,000,000. This sum seems enormous, but it only represents a 
profit of twenty per cent, upon the national traffic. And other 
facts bear out the estimate. From 1859 to 1864, England drained 
the foreign world of $700,000,000 of gold, which was imported into 
the British islands, and re-exported, in loans to Christendom, and 
remittances to the East. This, however, represents only in part 
the drain of specie from foreign countries to England; a great part 
of the specie balances due. to British merchants never reach the 
British Isles, being either loaned at once in the country in which 



* Vast sums have been invested in Austria upon landed security. The loan 
of British capital to embarrassed Austrian land owners, secured by mortgages 
upon real estate, has been reduced to a system. In this way, Britain returns to 
Austria, by loan, the money derived thence in payment of interest upon the 
Austrian national bonds held in London. 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 275 

the deficit is due, or transferred direct to some other country for 
investment. 

So far has this system of loans progressed already, though the 
era of commerce is but lately begun, that every quarter of the 
globe is in debt to England. If her profits are already so vast when 
her commerce is yet in its infancy, what will they be when its rapid 
and constant advance shall reach its meridian greatness? England 
began the era of manufactures fifty years ago, almost bankrupt, 
staggering beneath a load of debt she was scarcely able to bear. 
Hundreds of millions have since been added to the debt; yet so 
vast have been her accessions of wealth, that she now bears it as 
lightly as if it were but a straw. The general wealth is increasing 
so rapidly that the taxes every year yield too much revenue, and 
have to be annually diminished. If her prosperity should continue 
to advance as heretofore, England might pay off her debt of four 
thousand million dollars in less than a quarter of a century, without 
any addition to the public burdens. But the capitalists who control 
the government own the debt, and do not want their money. If it 
were paid, they could not find such safe investments abroad. Their 
vast and increasing incomes are sufficient to enable them to seize 
upon every safe and profitable investment that is offered in any 
quarter of the globe, and have a large surplus to be invested in 
foreign bonds. 

The wealth of England gathers like a ball of snow. Wealth at- 
tracts wealth, as particles of iron cluster round a magnet. Not only 
do her merchants, her shippers, her manufacturers, make large and 
increasing profits greatly exceeding their expenses, which they in- 
vest abroad, but a golden tide is flowing into England from every 
quarter of the globe, in payment of the interest of indebtedness. 
Every government in Europe and America pays interest to England 
upon its bonds ; every country in Europe and America, and one at 
least in Asia, pays taxes to England for advances toward water and 
gas works, and other public improvements. In our own country the 
Federal government, the state governments, our counties, our towns, 
are all in debt to England. And still the volume of indebtedness 
goes on increasing in an accelerated ratio. The profits of the annu- 
ally increasing manufactures and commerce of England must be an- 



276 the world's crisis. 

nually invested, and also the annual dividends of past investments. 
As few opportunities of investment offer at home, they must be in- 
vested abroad. No difficulty of finding investments; the whole 
world is in debt, and cash will always purchase the debtor's bonds. 

The process of absorption is continually going on. Under the 
losing system of commerce that now prevails, while other countries 
are unable to meet their annual outlays, England reaps all the 
profits, and invests her income in loans to the impoverished nations. 
The absorption of the world's wealth is going on in the ratio of 
arithmetical* progression. Every year the profits of British indus- 
try and enterprise are greater, as the sphere of that industry ex- 
tends, centralizing the commerce of the world more entirely; every 
year, as investments are increased, the income from interest is en- 
larged ; and every year the proceeds of all are devoted to swell the 
roll of the world's indebtedness, and the volume of British interest- 
bearing capital. Already, the annual dividends are so great that 
investments, as has been already mentioned, are found with diffi- 
culty. England is making money faster than the world wants to 
borrow it. 

Already, in the infancy of her commercial centralization, Britain 
has attained to an autocracy of industry and wealth. The follow- 
ing sketch from the pen of an English writer, though highly colored, 
does not exaggerate the monopoly of commerce and wealth Great 
Britain has acquired : — 

* Since the above was written the following allusion by a British essayist to 
the increasing centralization of wealth in the British Islands has met my eye: 
c, As we listen, in our study, to this apotheosis of Trade, our tight little island 
seems to rise into the shape and proportions of a magnificent temple thronged 
with busy crowds swarming out and in — making ample use of the sanctuary, 
but seldom even touching their hats, as they pass, to the golden statue of the 
Goddess Fortuna, which stands in the midst. There they are ceaslessly storing 
up the wealth that flows to them from the rest of the world. Men in strange 
climes and in strange dresses, and speaking all manner of tongues, are seen 
preparing produce and luxuries of all kinds for the Temple, which flow thither 
in long streams across both land and sea. And still the work of storing goes 
on: gold, silver, and all precious things — the delights of life — the cream of the 
earth's good things— accumulate higher and higher in the chambers of the tem- 
ple." — Blackwood for 1864. 



CENTRALIZATION OP BRITISH WEALTH. 277 

" The trade of England," says this writer, " is ubiquitous. It ex- 
tends North, South, East, and West. It penetrates to every spot 
on the earth. Fully three-fourths of the exportable produce of every 
country is sent direct to England ; and of the remaining fourth, the 
greater part is carried by English enterprise, and at English risk, 
to the port of consumption. In like manner, almost every spot on 
the earth receives its foreign supplies from this country, or by the 
hands of English traders, and by means of English capital. In fact 
it may be truly said that there is not, at any time, any corner of the 
world in which Englishmen have not more or less pecuniary inter- 
est. Without English capital, and English enterprise, the tallow 
of Russia could not be brought from the interior to St. Petersburg ; 
nor the timber of Sweden, Norway, and Poland, be brought to the 
ports of embarkation ; nor the cotton of Egypt to Alexandria. En- 
glish capital performs the internal traffic of every country, and 
largely supplies the means of interior production. We are the 
great general merchants of the world ; for here, and here alone, can 
everything, and in any quantity, and at any moment, be sold; and 
in England, alone, can the foreigner obtain any and every produce 
of the world of any quality, and in any quantity, arid at any time. 

" We are the manufacturers for the world. Every nation in the 
world except England may be called an agricultural country ; each, 
no doubt, has some few manufactures, more or less rough; but the 
manufactures of almost every one are trifling in the extreme in pro- 
portion to the raw produce which it grows. Consequently few 
countries export much except raw produce : and, as very few ports 
in the world can take an entire cargo of anything except timber, 
the direct trade between the various countries of the world is very 
small. All trade through England ; for what little goes direct from 
one country to another is generally on English account, carried by 
English enterprise, and with English capital. 

" We carry the mails for the whole world. Strange as it may 
appear, even the letters from South America to North America have 
always passed through the London postoffice. 

" No one can go from one part of the world to another, without 
passing through England; so completely do we monopolize the 
whole passenger traffic. 

" We are the bankers of the whole world. If the North sends 
money to the South, or the East to the West, the money must be 
remitted through London, — there is no other way. 

" We are the great capitalists of the world. We have lent money 
to every government, and almost to every municipality. We are 
the annuitants of the world; for every country has to pay large 
sums to the English as interest upon loans amounting to many hun- 



278 

dreds of millions. We are the bullion dealers of the world ; all gold 
and silver is brought direct to England in payment of debts due to 
us, and then redistributed by us in the shape of public or private loans. 

" We are the ship-builders for the world ; and own, or have mort- 
gages upon almost every vessel afloat. The shipping in every for- 
eign port either belong to England or are employed by England, 
with the exception of a few coasters. 

" We are the railway makers of the world ; and the actual owners 
of the greater proportion of foreign railways. 

" We have the lion's share in every mine. 

" Nothing is too large, and nothing too small for English capital, 
and English enterprise. We even pave, light, watch, and drain 
numerous foreign cities. The very water-works of Berlin were con- 
structed by the English, and are owned in England. So endless 
are the ramifications of British trade and enterprise, that the slight- 
est misfortune to any country or people seriously affects England. 
A severe drought in the most remote spot on earth leaves England 
a serious. loser. A deluge in any country fills our ledgers with bad 
debts. An earthquake in any quarter of the globe largely reduces 
English profits. Every flood washes away English dividends, En- 
glish exports, English imports, and sweeps away English capital, 
and ruins English future expectations. 

" In fact, more than half the world is mortgaged to England." 

This statement presents a summary of the centralization of trade 
and wealth effected by England. Its statements are corroborated 
in an article contributed to an English review by an essayist, whose 
calm style and intimate acquaintance with facts and commercial 
principles place him above the charge of exaggeration. Speaking 
of London, " The City of Gold," he says : — 

"London, as every one knows, contains a city within a city; and 
within that inner city there is yet another, the very heart of the 
metropolis. It is a small place. In a couple of minutes you may 
walk across it from side to side, from end to end. Yet it is the cen- 
ter and citadel of our greatness, — the heart whose pulsations are 
felt to the farthest extremities of the empire. There is concen- 
trated the spare capital of the nation. . . . The occupants of 
the precinct have dealings with all the world. The railways which 
accompany the ceaseless advance of the White race into the prai- 
ries of the Far West, in America — the companies which explore and 
develop the resources of California, and Australia — the iron roads, 
and irrigating canals which are maturing the prosperity of India — 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 279 

the enterprise which covers with tea plantations the valleys and 
slopes of the Hiinmalayas, and which carries our countrymen into 
new regions, every where, — are created or sustained by the outgo- 
ings of this little spot in London. The wastes of Hudson's Bay — 
trading companies for the Nile — the cotton planting which is invad- 
ing Africa — ocean lines of steam-ships, submarine telegraphs con- 
necting dissevered continents, water-works for Berlin, gas for Bom- 
bay, — these, and a hundred other matters and projects, engage the 
thoughts, and employ the capital which is at the command of this 
busy hive of operators. Almost every country is included in their 
operations, and almost every State is indebted to them. From 
gigantic Russia, to petty Ecuador and Venezuela, they hold the bonds 
of every government, (those of Persia, China, and Japan excepted). 
Prosaic as their operations are in detail, taken in the mass, they 
constitute a grand work. Daily and hourly, it is their business to 
scan in detail the condition of the world. They weigh the influence 
of the seasons, they investigate the produce of all manner of har- 
vests — they know the condition of every mine, the prospects of 

every railway, the dividends of every company It is a 

city of money dealers — a sanctuary of Plutus. — Blot out that inner 
heart of London, and the whole world would feel the shock." 

Where will this centralization of commerce and capital end ? Is 
England to become the universal mortgagee of mankind? If the 
system of centralization should continue to progress in the ratio of 
the past, in another half century, England will become the owner 
of the world in fee simple, and mankind will be her tenants, pay- 
ing her rents and taxes. As the writer already quoted phrases it, 
the British Islands will be the " garden," the rest of the world, the 
"farm" of the great monopolist. 

The skeptic may greet this conclusion with a derisive smile. He 
will scout the idea of impending bankruptcy. For, he says, the 
world is growing richer every year, notwithstanding its increasing 
indebtedness. 

It is true that the property wealth of almost all the countries in 
Christendom has vastly increased during the last thirty years. But 
this does not show that the traffic with England is a profitable busi- 
ness. It is owing to other causes, which have increased the prop- 
erty valuation, notwithstanding the unfavorable balance of trade 
with England. 

A portion of this enhancement in property valuation is owing to 



I 

280 the world's crisis. 

the depreciated value of gold consequent upon the discovery of gold 
in California, Australia, and our Western territories. It is easy to 
see how this has increased the relative wealth of the world, notwith- 
standing its heavy and increasing burden of debt. A man whose 
property, twenty years ago, was worth ten thousand dollars, while 
his debts were five thousand dollars, is now, when his property is 
enhanced to twenty thousand dollars by the depreciation of gold, 
twice as rich as before, though he has by his extravagance in the 
interval doubled his debt. 

But a great part of the increase of wealth arises from the ener- 
getic improvement of property. From this cause, the value of the 
property in our own country has been vastly increased during the 
last thirty years. We have had in each succeeding year more land 
reclaimed from the wilderness, more stock, and larger crops. 

We w r ere in the condition of a young man starting in life with 
nothing but some wild lands. With great energy he begins to re- 
duce his lands to a state of tillage. He sells his crops to a 
merchant ; but instead of bestowing his income in the improvements 
he needs, he buys of the merchant every year goods whose cost ex- 
ceeds the price of his crops, and borrows money of the merchant 
for improvements, giving mortgages upon his land as security. As 
his income increases, he increases his extravagance ; and every year 
he gives more notes to the merchant to cover the excess of his ex- 
penditure over his income. Thus, he annually increases his debt ; 
but he also increases the value of his property. At the end of thirty 
years, he has a fine estate, well improved, but heavily burdened with 
debt; but, on the whole, is richer than when he began life; the en- 
hancement of his property has more than kept pace with his indebt- 
edness. He now casts about him and finding that, on the whole, his 
circumstances are improved, thinks his system a good one, and 
decides to continue it. The more he improves his land and the 
larger his crops, the more he exceeds his income, and the more 
money he borrows for improvements. At last he reaches a point 
where his lands do not enhance in the same proportion as formerly; 
his crops, though large and increasing, do not maintain the same 
ratio of increase ; — but the debt is swelling ; the amount of interest 
is growing, and his annual expenditure exceeds his annual income 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 281 

more and more every year. What is the result ? Bankruptcy. By 
the time he grows old, and has his land highly improved, the debt 
will equal its value, and the merchant will foreclose his mortgage 
and take possession. 

Here, the farmer loses by his traffic with the men-chant ; his buying 
and selling has been a losing business, throughout; for he has bought 
and consumed more than he sold. His increased wealth arose 
entirely from his industry in improving his property. So, there are 
young nations losing money every year by their traffic with England, 
and yet they are growing richer by their industry in improving their 
country. They every year bring more land into a state of tillage, 
build more houses, raise more stock, and increase the population, 
enriching the country more by improvement than it is impoverished 
by the trade with England. 

New countries feel the benefits of this improvement more than 
any other. The value of property is more enhanced by industry 
than in older countries. But the countries of the old world, also, 
have felt the force of this age of improvement. There was com- 
paratively little industry in Europe, forty years ago. Since then, 
the march of improvement has more than kept pace with the indebt- 
edness to England. The European nations of forty years ago were 
like the proprietor of a worn out farm, — lazy, and burdened with 
debt. If the man becomes industrious, and improves his farm, he 
will be richer than before, even if at the same time he grows ex- 
travagant and increases his debt. The improvement of his property 
more than counterbalances his increased indebtedness. The Euro- 
pean nations have become industrious ; they have improved their 
lands, increased their productiveness, and their capacity to sustain 
population ; and thus the value of the national property is greater, 
compared with the national debt, than it was fifty years ago. 

But it must be remembered that this increase of wealth is not an 
increase of moneyed capital, but only of property valuation. En- 
gland is the only country in Christendom which has a moneyed capital 
plus its property valuation. The moneyed capital of other countries 
has been reduced to zero ; they have been drained of their money 
by England, and have borrowed it of her again. The wealth of 
England consists of its property valuation, plus its moneyed capital 



282 the world's crisis. 

loaned to other countries ; the wealth of other countries consists of 
their property valuation, with their indebtedness to England sub- 
tracted. By distinguishing between the wealth that consists in the 
value of property, and that which consists in moneyed capital, we may 
perceive how English commerce may be ruining all other countries, 
while they may be at present richer than formerly through the en- 
hanced value of their property. 

We are now prepared to observe the necessary result of the con- 
tinuance of the monopoly of manufactures and commerce established 
by Great Britain. 

England is inducing almost every country in Christendom to buy 
more than it sells ; and after draining the nations of their specie, 
returns it in loans to governments, advances to municipalities, cor- 
porations, and individuals, and purchases of government bonds. 
Thus far, the interest on these loans has not been felt as a burden, 
and the enhancement of real estate and the activity of business have 
blinded the nations to the fact that the active traffic they are carry- 
ing on is a losing business ; that the merchants who conduct the 
traffic are making fortunes, but the country at large is getting 
deeper in debt, every year. The enhancement of property has a 
limit ; extravagance has no limit but Ruin. 

The profits of England are growing larger every year ; her loans, 
and advances, and purchases of government bonds are becoming 
annually greater. It cannot be long ere the interest on this indebt- 
edness will become so great as to be oppressive. But this will only 
accelerate ruin, not enforce economy. Great Britain cannot main- 
tain her monopoly of commerce without receiving bonds from other 
countries to the amount of her annual profits. The balance of trade 
must be kept up in this, the only practicable way. Her system of 
commerce involves, of necessity, the credit system. She will con- 
tinue to make loans and advances as long as safe mortgages can be 
found ; and the nations will continue to trade with her as long as 
she extends credit so readily for all inconvenient balances — and 
scout the idea of bankruptcy, until it comes. 

Mankind is governed by precedents ; and in the history of na- 
tions there is no precedent for the commercial system of the present 



CENTRALIZATION OF BRITISH WEALTH. 283 

age. England is a new character on the stage of nations. It is 
merchant and pawnbroker, combined. Like all pawnbrokers and 
money lenders, it is a most complaisant creditor while debtors are 
solvent, and an applicant is never turned away who has property to 
pledge. It is not for England to give prodigal nations good advice, 
and inform them that they are on the road to ruin. No, no ; the 
Balance of Trade is a bugbear of the past ! And so, under the in- 
fluence of the credit system, commerce expands, and widens its cir- 
cle ; the nations go deeper into debt without a thought of the day 
of reckoning ; and England increases her gains, and chuckles with 
glee as the nations come with bonds and mortgages, to get back the 
gold of which they have been fleeced. 

But why raise the voice of warning ? The world cannot be made 
to see the evils of this system, now. It is as thoughtless as a young 
heir living beyond his means, and executing a new mortgage on his 
estate, every year. The world is sowing its wild oats ; and when 
did the spendthrift ever take warning ? The money-lender is the 
prodigal's benefactor, as long as he will continue to trust. The 
world is living on its property, mortgaging it deeper annually, and 
so it will continue to do while the property lasts and the money-lender 
is complaisant. It is so easy to go on credit ; to have everything 
we want without paying ready money; to live in luxury, and leave 
posterity to foot the bill. The nations are like Micawber — none is 
too poor to give its note ; and why exercise self-denying economy, 
when credit is unbounded, and a note to be paid when we please will 
obtain all our desires ! What matters a balance on the wrong side 
of the ledger, when an interest-bearing bond will square the account! 

But these bonds are bearing six per cent, interest ; and the inter- 
est is paid and loaned again, every year. Apart from her annual 
profits from manufactures and commerce, the loaned capital of En- 
gland is increasing at the rate of compound interest, and doubling 
itself every twelve years. 

Nothing increases so fast as money loaned at interest. The life- 
time of a money-lender is, fortunately, too short for his accumula- 
tions to surpass a moderate limit. But a nation does not die. Its 
accumulations may go on, compounding again, and again, and again, 
in an infinite series, until they absorb all the wealth of the earth. 



284 

If England added nothing to her capital, henceforth, by com- 
merce, but merely made expenses, the increase of her present inter- 
est-bearing capital, by compound interest at six per cent., would 
soon equal the value of all the property in the world. It would 
double in twelve years ; quadruple in twenty-four years ; be eight- 
fold in thirty-six years ; sixteen-fold in forty-eight years ; thirty- 
two-fold in sixty years; sixty- four-fold in seventy-two years: and 
in eighty-four years from the present date, at this rate of increase, 
the loaned capital of England will be one hundred and twenty-eight 
times as great as at present. Placing the indebtedness of the na- 
tions to England at the present time at $4,000,000,000, which is far 
short of the mark, in sixty years, merely by the accumulation of 
interest, the world will be indebted to her in the sum of $128, 
000,000,000; upon which the annual interest would be seven bill- 
ions of dollars. — The world could not pay any such interest as this ; 
the crash would come much sooner than we have estimated. 

In twenty-four years, the loaned capital of England will be swollen 
by compound interest to $16,000,000,000, with an annual interest of 
$1,000,000,000. And this without any additional profits of com- 
merce, merely by the accumulation of interest annually received and 
reloaned. But it must be remembered that the annual profits of her 
vast industry amount to six hundred millions which are also invested 
abroad. At a moderate computation the loaned capital of England 
will have increased by interest and profits to twenty billions of dol- 
lars within twenty years. 

The national debts of the world now amount to about eleven bill- 
ions of dollars. They are constantly in the market, and can always 
be purchased in any amount at the selling rate. In twelve years 
Great Britain will own all the national debts of the world. Every 
country must export to her gold in immense quantities to meet the 
interest. How will this end? The young heir finds the money 
lender exceedingly complaisant so long as he can meet the interest 
of borrowed money. But let him fail of the annual installment, and 
Money-bags shows him a sour visage — and the next thing is to put 
the bailiff in possession of the property. The Prodigal will be 
brought to his senses at last. Plenty of credit and good words till 
the crisis comes ; and then 



THE CENTRALIZATION OF BRITISH WEALTH. 285 

What? How will it end? 

The Cuckoo — an English bird — makes no nest of its own, but 
lavs its egg in the nest of the hedge sparrow and the robin. When 
the eggs hatch, the young cuckoo grows so fast as soon to fill the 
entire nest, and throws the young robins or hedge sparrows out, to 
perish, while it monopolizes the attentions of the parent birds. En- 
gland is laying a cuckoo-egg in every nation's nest. They, unsus- 
picious, are warming the intruder into life. Soon the young cuckoo 
will require the entire nest, and monopolize undivided attention to 
satisfy its demands. What will then become of the nation's 
young ? 

"Pshaw!" cries the objector; "what can one nation do against 
the world? England must submit to an universal repudiation. The 
nations will rub out past accounts, and begin afresh, wiser than at 
first." 

This view might be just were all the world combined against En- 
gland, to enforce repudiation. But England is too cautious for that. 
One country at a time will be reduced to bankruptcy, by concen- 
trating her surplus capital upon the purchase of its bonds. Then, 
while the rest of the world are bearing their debts easily, paying in- 
terest at home, the victim will be prostrated by the exportation of 
specie and produce, to pay interest, and, when the crisis comes, will 
be powerless to offer resistance. 

And we are the purposed victim. Mr. Gladstone, while Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer, recently made to the British public an ex- 
traordinary announcement-. He analyzed all the debts of the world, 
and, after showing that those of most European countries are in- 
creasing so rapidly as to endanger bankruptcy at no distant day, 
informed his countrymen that the American debt is the safest in the 
world. Our debt offers other advantages to the English capitalist : 
it bears higher interest than any other nation is paying ; and it is 
not subject to taxation. The object of Gladstone could only have 
been to suggest to British capitalists that they had better invest as 
large a portion of their capital as possible in American bonds. The 
influence of his indorsement, and the other advantages which our 
debt offers over all others, will induce the British money lenders to 
concentrate their investments upon it. Our debt will be the first 



286 

monopolized. From present appearances, it will* all be in British 
hands in less than five years. 

How long can we stand the drain of one hundred and sixty millions 
of gold and exports, to pay interest ? What remedy ? Repudiation ? 

England always fights for interest when she fights for nothing 
else. She was prompt enough in hurling Russia back from Con- 
stantinople and the route to India. And she will always be prompt 
enough where interest is concerned. Because busied with her own 
career of ambition, England has held aloof, for some years, from 
European complications, the idea has gone forth that she will not 
fight. But she is engaged in laying the foundations of a great com- 
mercial empire which shall lay the earth under tribute. She has 
refused to turn aside from her ambitious purpose ; but she always 
fights, in Europe, in Asia, in America, where the interests of her 
trafficf are involved. 

Could we meet her, when our resources shall have been gradu- 
ally exhausted before the crisis comes, while England will be four- 
fold more powerful than now ? It will also be easy, by disposing 
of a portion of our bonds, to Continental capitalists, to array Europe 
in a league against us. European monarchies will not be backward 
to seize a favorable opportunity to crush the Model Republic. Mill- 
ions of Continental " Hessians," if need be, could be subsidized for 
a war upon us. How could we, bankrupt, and broken down, with 
coasts blockaded, commerce ruined, resist the coalition of the world 
led on by the great Money Lender? 

England already feels that she is becoming imperial. Indications 
are not wanting of a contemplated change of attitude, correspond- 
ing with her increased importance. These indications, however, 
will not be found in the utterances of her statesmen. They wear 
their honors meekly. 

" Lowliness is young ambition's ladder." 



*See the calculation on this subject, page — 

f A recent English writer coolly says: "True, commerce does not always ap- 
pear as a benefactor. True, we fight for markets. If a people will not accept 
the blessings of trade, we force them upon them at the point of the bayonet, or 
at the mouth of the cannon. This is indefensible — it is a reproach to civiliza- 
tion — but it is natural." — Blackwood for 1864. 



BRITISH CENTRALIZATION OF WEALTH. 287 

The grandeur of England is always present in their thoughts. 
They are awake to the possibilities of the future. But they only 
whisper them in their bed-chambers. Their public utterances are 
a cuckoo song of the blessings of commerce to all nations, and the 
especial benefits of free trade with England. "The pear is not 
ripe." The suspicions of mankind must not be awakened. Hence, 
they never whisper of the growing centralization of wealth, and 
commerce, and power, in the hands of England. They pursue a 
policy which the whole world scoffs as timid. Till the time comes, 
England, like Achilles in disguise among the daughters of Lycom- 
edes, must remain busied with the distaff and the loom, hiding the 
armed hand and iron muscles beneath the folds of luxurious drapery. 

But English statesmen cannot always maintain the reserve they 
impose upon themselves ; in moments of impulse,* they speak out 
the thought that lies deep in every Englishman's heart. All En- 
glishmen, moreover, are not statesmen. Some speak out boldly, and 
blame the government for its repose, demanding that it should as- 
sume an attitude worthy the imperial wealth and power of the coun- 
try. While in England, a pamphlet fell under the author's eye, 
which was intended for private distribution at home. The title of 
the publication was, " The True Foreign Policy of Commercial 
England." In the table of contents the following headings appear : 
u England has a Money Interest in every Nation." "Every War a 
War upon England." " England should Invariably Chastise." " En- 
gland's Power to Chastise." " English Rule a Blessing to Foreign 
Nations." — It is the writer's object to show that England's policy, 
henceforth, ought to be active, imperial intervention. Its utterances 
are quoted, as bespeaking the consciousness of power with which 
the English nation is imbued, and they may be regarded as the 
mutterings of the rising cloud, perhaps soon to overshadow the 
heavens. 

After drawing a picture of the British monopoly of commerce and 

* We have an example of this in a recent debate in the British parliament, 
which occurred since the above was written. D'Israeli closed one of his great 
speeches with the expression of his confidence in the grand destiny of England ; 
which produced such a sensation in parliament, that his antagonist could not 
venture a reply. 



288 the world's crisis. 

wealth, and showing how every war injures English interests by in- 
terfering with industry, the writer proceeds : 

"Having her property dispersed over all the earth, England 
should, for her own protection, constitute herself the police of the 
world ; as she is the carrier, the banker, the merchant, the annu- 
itant, the postoffice of the world. When the outrage of war is com- 
mitted on England's commerce, — that is, whenever any war is under- 
taken — it should be the standing order of the people of England to 
their public servants, that the instant any country marches an army 
across its own border, the English fleet in the district shall blockade 
every port of the offending power, and, if necessary, bombard its 
maritime towns ; that the British fleet throughout the world shall 
seize upon, and make prize of everything afloat belonging to the of- 
fender ; and, further, that a British army shall, without a moment's 
delay, be sent to assist the nation invaded, and protect our property." 

The writer next sets forth the resources of Great Britain to en- 
force intervention. He sums these up under the heads, " Naval 
Supremacy;" "The Military Character of the People" — rendering 
England " the only nation which has at all times maintained its ar- 
mies without a conscription ;" and, " The Wealth of England " — 
which enables her to supply the "sinews of war" in the greatest 
abundance. On this last head he concludes : 

" No one doubts our means of supplying the waste of war. The 
cost that has crippled Russia for twenty years, has never for a mo- 
ment been felt by us. The large outlay during the Crimean war did 
not curtail the smallest luxury of the poorest Englishman. That 
war was thoroughly popular, as all wars are in England. There is 
no instance of public meetings to protest against a war; for the 
people of England often urge a war, but never tire of one." 

The writer thinks a notification "that any foreign potentate 
attacking any nation shall be deemed to have made war upon En- 
gland," " will cause a perfect lull throughout the world." He illus- 
trates his position as follows : " If Nicholas of Russia had been 
certain that war on Turkey would be war with England, he never 
would have committed himself to the first step, from which his pride 
would not suffer him to retract. If the German Autocrats had known 
that crossing the Elbe, [to attack Denmark,] would be war with 
England, not a German soldier would have crossed. And if the 
Northern states [of America] had known that an attack on the 



CENTRALIZATION OF BRITISH WEALTH. 289 

South would have instantly brought the full power of England upon 
them, our cotton supply, and our American trade would have been 
unharmed to this hour." 

The better to maintain the imperial supremacy of England, the 
writer advocates the breaking up of great powers, by giving aid to 
every people that raise the standard of revolt against the domina- 
tion of their imperial government. Thus, Poland ought to be aided 
against Russia, Hungary and Venetia against Austria ; because com- 
binations of small states could not resist the supremacy of England: 
"A combination of such states as Denmark, Holland, and Belgium, 
would give us little more trouble than a Caffre war, or an attack by 
the Maories of New Zealand." " It is England's interest, then, 
that there shall be no very large territories ; and, fortunately, Na- 
ture has limited within comparatively narrow bounds the extent of 

country which can most beneficially embrace one community 

England can avail herself of these natural limits without the slight- 
est injury to mankind, and should never fail to assist every people 
who are struggling for a separate existence." 

This writer is laying down a policy impracticable as yet. British 
monopoly is only beginning to accomplish its results. His utter- 
ances show, however, that the national mind of England is fully 
awake to the dawning grandeur of the country. They only antici- 
pate, by a few years, the era when, unless the centralization of in- 
dustry is arrested, this universal autocracy may be practicable. In 
fifteen or twenty years more, when compound interest and the 
increasing centralization of commerce shall have quadrupled the 
wealth and power of England, and proportionally diminished the 
vigor of other countries, what now seems mere braggadocio may be- 
come stern reality. 

The centralization of commerce and wealth in the hands of En- 
gland menaces the world with danger. It ought to be arrested 
before it goes further. The present state of commerce, if suffered to 
progress to its limit, must result in the concentrating all wealth and 
power in England, enabling that country to dominate the world 
with an autocracy more oppressive than the sway of the sword. If 
the world must bow beneath oppression, let it be the despotism of 

19 



290 THE world's crisis. 

genius, not the tyranny of wealth ; let it submit to the domination 
of the conqueror, not to the odious sway of a merchant uniting the 
rapacity and trickery of the peddler, the meanness and insolence of 
the usurer, with the remorseless exaction of a Jew. 

The centralization of commerce in the hands of England must be 
arrested before it goes further. By giving her our cotton, we en- 
abled her to build it up. We have made her what she is ; we must 
undo our work. We have the opportunity, now, to do it. England 
is passing through an industrial crisis which gives us every advan- 
tage ; if we suffer the opportunity to slip, events will pass beyond 
our control. 



PART II. 

OUR VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION HAVE IN- 
JURED THE WORLD, BY GENDERING SOCIAL EVILS 
DANGEROUS TO CIVILIZATION. 

It is fabled that Cadmus, one of the early colonists of Greece, 
desirous of fostering the interests of his infant colony, was directed 
by an oracle to sow in the earth the teeth of a dragon he had slain. 
He was confounded when he beheld the teeth spring up into a fierce 
array of armed men, bent on destroying all that came in their way. 
Fortunately, their arms were turned against each other, and all 
perished by mutual slaughter except a single survivor ; who, with 
fierceness abated by his wounds, became the friend of Cadmus, 
and aided him in the accomplishment of his design. 

Our country is the Cadmus of the new world. In our anxiety 
to promote our prosperity, we have sowed dragons' teeth, from which, 
have sprung a fruitful progeny of evils armed against the prosperity 
of man. If they all co-operated to the same end, the world were 
lost. But, fortunately, they mutually tend to counteract each other. 
It is to be hoped that they will prove mutually destructive ; and that 
but a single evil may at last survive, in such a modified form as to 
assist in furthering the glorious destiny of America. 

The British centralization of commerce and wealth which we have 
brought about, would ruin the world, if it were suffered to progress 
to its culmination. But that centralization has, in turn, induced 
social and political evils, whose united influence will tend to coun- 
teract the commercial ambition of England, and which, eventually, 
may have to be countered by British power. This mutual counter- 
action is the only hope of the world ; for the powerful evils our 
course has developed, which are now rioting uncontrolled and gath- 
ering increasing strength, are, either of them, unless arrested, suffi- 
cient to make shipwreck of the hopes of man. 
(291) 



292 the world's crisis. 

The social evils which have taken rise out of the British central- 
ization of industry next claim attention. 



CHAPTER I. 

SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 

The most striking, and most dangerous social evil of our time, is 
the social excitement that everywhere prevails. If one of our sober 
minded ancestors might return to earth, his attention would not be 
arrested so much by the march of improvement, the inventions of 
science, the labor-saving machinery, the various useful appliances 
formerly unknown, as by the social and mental excitement of the age. 
He would see new modes of action and of thought; and would 

lament, 

"Old times are changed, old manners gone." 

Whence this social excitement ? 

It has been fomented by the unprecedented commercial activity 
of the age. The centralization of traffic in the hands of England 
has generated too great commercial excitement. Commercial inter- 
change between different countries is distended beyond all proportion 
to productive industry. There is more commerce, now, than there 
ought to be, were productive industry twenty times as great. A 
brief glance at the elements of commerce will show to what a degree 
its dilation has progressed. 

Raw products have become staple articles of exchange. Consist- 
ently with proper commercial principles, provisions and raw material, 
both cheap and bulky articles, ought never to be made commodities of 
commerce. No country ought to have a population greater than its 
own agriculture would support ; no country should manufacture, for 
exportation, more than its own supply of raw material. The con- 
verse of these propositions is also true : every country ought to have 
a manufacturing population sufficient to consume its provision sup- 
plies, and manufacture its own raw material. This would keep both 
provisions and raw material out of the list of commercial commodities. 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 293 

There is only one exception to the principle that a nation ought 
to manufacture only its own raw material. Where a country has 
facilities for manufacturing, but is without a sufficient supply of raw 
material for some necessary articles, it may be more economical to 
import raw products for the supply of the wants of its own popu- 
lation, than to purchase the manufactured article. Thus, it is 
cheaper for England to import raw silk from France than to pur- 
chase silken goods; and France finds it cheaper to import British 
iron and coal than the manufactured cutlery. But this exception 
does not license the systematic importation of provisions and raw 
material for the production of manufactures for exportation. This 
system is false in theory, and ruinous in practice. 

Deduct provisions and raw material from the commodities of 
commerce, and the vast and increasing excitement of traffic would 
cease. There would be healthy activity everywhere, without un- 
wholesome excitement. The mighty stream whose swelling and 
rushing tide threatens the earth with devastation would be diverted 
into a thousand channels, diffusing fertility and beauty in its course. 
Every country would have its own market for provisions and raw 
material; and commerce would be brought to its proper standard, — 
the interchange of manufactured products, and such articles of lux- 
urious consumption as the countries respectively did not produce. 

But how widely has the world departed from this principle in our 
era. Nothing is manufactured where it is produced; nothing is 
consumed where it is manufactured. Manufactures and provisions 
and raw material swell commerce to an enormous bulk, and cross 
and recross each other in the mazes of a commercial chasse in which 
the whole world is engaged. 

No country manufactures its own raw material. Everything 
seeks England as a market ; everything is purchased of England as 
the source of supply. The United States cannot manufacture its 
cotton, rectify its Petroleum, nor consume its breadstuffs ; all go to 
England for a market. Italy cannot manufacture its silk, and Leg- 
horn hats ; but sends straw and cocoons to England. Spain and 
Brazil send the horns and hoofs of cattle, to be manufactured into 
glue, and their hides, for shoes, and mattresses. Canada and Nor- 
way send timber for ships, for building cities and factories, and for 



294 

the various articles of wooden manufacture with which England 
supplies the world. All the world send provisions, hemp, flax, cot- 
ton, wool, dyestuffs, ashes, tallow, crude oils, leather, raw hides, and 
tan-bark, the hair, horns, hoofs, bones of cattle, hog bristles, goat 
hair, and numberless other articles for British manufacture, which 
ought never to have been commercial commodities. 

As if this were not enough, commerce is further increased by the 
system of unbounded credit England has introduced. The limits 
which the balance of trade would fix are swept away. Every coun- 
try can obtain unbounded credit, and importations are limited, not 
by its ability to pay, but by its willingness to run in debt. 

It is the unbounded commerce England is promoting, that is caus- 
ing all the excitement of the human mind in the present age. The 
influence of a too expansive commerce in inducing over excitement 
has already been traced. If each country manufactured its own raw 
material, and consumed its own agricultural products, commerce 
could never produce over-excitement. Manufacturing villages and 
towns scattered through a country in favorable localities, impart 
necessary activity to social life, but cannot become centers of ex- 
citement. And when commerce is kept within proper limits, there 
can be no speculation to fever the population of commercial cities. 

But the radical tendency of the commercial system of the present 
age is to centralize manufactures, and exaggerate commerce in such 
a degree as to require multiplied millions to carry it on. The trans- 
portation of bulky articles of commerce gathers immense populations 
in cities, fostering speculation in a thousand channels. 

The populations of these crowded cities have been fermenting in 
ceaseless activity, until the over-wrought powers of man have lost 
their tone. The incessant hurly burly of traffic has known no re- 
laxation. Not even the Sabbath has been free from business cares. 
The mind has been kept continually strained to its utmost tension. 
The nervous system has been overworked, and still held by the 
power of the will and the strength which excitement gives, to its 
daily task. A state of feverish nervousness supervened, banishing 
calmness of thought, and bringing the high-wrought organism into 
rap-port with every new form of excitement. 

Everything conduced to excite the populations of these cities in 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 295 

the highest degree. The business they carried on was not in the 
regular line of commerce where everything is stable, but partook of 
the spirit of speculation. Manufactured articles have a fixed value, 
given by the expenditure of labor upon them. But raw products 
are liable to ceaseless fluctuations. In purchasing provisions and 
raw material, fortunes were won and lost in a day, and the anxiety 
attendant upon speculative commercial risks deepened immeasura- 
bly the prevailing fermentation. What must be the anxieties at- 
tendant upon that course of business, in which, of one hundred 
merchants, ninety-seven fail, at least once, in the course of their 
lives ? 

Daily papers were born of the prevailing excitement, and being 
filled with sensational articles, and exciting rumors, contributed to 
exasperate the unrest of the public mind. Where nothing but ex- 
cited thought would attract attention, a sensational literature became 
general. Fiction partook of the general character, and the weekly 
press flooded every country with sensational stories, offering to mo- 
ments of relaxation a stimulant adapted to the condition of the 
over-wrought nervous system. 

Thus, gradually, business excitement merged into social fermenta- 
tion. This tendency was greatly increased by the universal extrava- 
gance fostered by the credit system of England. Every country 
was deluged with luxurious commodities far beyond the capacity of 
payment with its own productions. Fashionable extravagance be- 
came the rage. Woman, in the whirlpool of fashion, became as 
giddy as man in the vortex of speculation. Business and fashion, 
sensational news and exciting fiction, were the elements of the tem- 
pest, which kept the soul of man rocking in perpetual unrest. The 
infection was diffused from the cities, by business and social contact, 
by the press, and by itinerant lecturers, until whole communities be- 
came a seething mass of fermentation. 

In the midst of this universal effervescence society is assuming 
new forms. 

The kindly interest and cordial protection, once extended by 
wealth to poverty, repaid by affectionate reverence, is extended no 
more. Life has become a race, in which high and low, rich and 



296 the world's crisis. 

poor, the weak and the strong, jostle each other; the strong tram- 
pling the weak, the weak cursing the strong. 

There is no repose, no calmness, no conservatism ; but hurry, 
bustle, excitement, universal and all-pervading. 

Man is absorbed in business, or immersed in dissipation. The 
masses have not time to offer, nor to accept the gentle charities of 
life, which soften asperities of character, and shed a halo over the 
rough path of existence. There are no moments of relaxation, in 
which the bow, too firmly bent, may regain its elasticity. There is 
no leisure for the cultivation and development of the nobler powers 
of our being ; no time for self-communion, where man may acquire 
that highest wisdom, the knowledge of himself; no time for medi- 
tation, when the powers of the soul, released from the enforced sub- 
jection to sordid cares, soar like an eagle freed from captivity into 
the empyrean of lofty and noble thought, and find in heaven-born 
aspirations that swell the bosom proofs of immortality. 

Continual disquietude and the debasement of ceaseless fretting 
care have, at last, done their work. The finely -tempered organs of 
our spiritual being cannot be abused with impunity. The nobility 
of human nature cannot be maintained without some communion 
of the soul with a higher and nobler sphere of being. The mind 
of the captive at last contracts to the walls of his dungeon, or, prey- 
ing upon itself, perishes self-consumed ; so the soul, pent in with 
sordid cares, wearied with disappointments, tossed with anxieties, 
either narrows its aspirations to the circumstances of its lot, or 
lashes itself to madness. 

It is the fashion to compliment ourselves upon the energy and 
activity of our age, in contrast with the quiet of a former era. We 
term the activity of the age advancement, and stigmatize the quiet 
of our fathers as fogyism. But in that quiet noble natures ripened 
into holiness. Man then had leisure for communion with his God. 
Business was not so all-engrossing as to exclude nobler objects of 
contemplation. We speak of the enlarged views of our generation 
as compared with the contracted ideas of our ancestors. They 
knew nothing of the electric telegraph, nor of the wonders wrought 
by steam ; but their views were higher, broader than our own; for 
ours, at their widest range, are bounded by the earth. 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 297 

We mistake. Activity is not always advancement; business 
acuteness is not necessarily wisdom. Both may be carried to ex- 
cess, and cause deterioration of character. A certain amount of 
social and industrial movement is necessary to the perfection of 
human nature ; as fermentation is necessary, to convert the juice of 
the grape into wine. But fermentation must not be excessive, or 
its action is destructive. The soul of man needs repose as well as 
movement; as a rich mellow wine ripens in the quiet of its cask, but, 
constantly agitated, sets up excessive fermentation and degenerates 
into vinegar. The character of our fathers, full of homely virtues, 
might have been ripened by greater activity into a more harmonious 
development. But the mind of man has undergone excessive fer- 
mentation in the ceaseless unrest of this excited era of commerce. 
The lofty thought, the rich and varied emotions, the mellow tone of 
sentiment that characterized a former era, are gone. Ours is a sharp, 
acetous age of thin-blooded utilitarianism. 

Our era has suffered from the combined influence of utilitarianism, 
and excessive mental and emotional excitement, — opposite evils, but 
both the result of the excited commerce of the time. Under the 
influence of these two causes, man has deteriorated, mentally, mor- 
ally, socially, religiously. 

Sect. I. — Mental Deterioration op the Age. 

The intellectual development of man has suffered both from the 
utilitarian tendency of the age, and from the excessive social excite- 
ment. Many grand intellects, that would have found a lofty place in 
the realm of thought, have turned aside to engage in active business ; 
many, too excitable to breast the gusts of the stormy era, have been 
swept away, victims, either of dissipation, or the dreams of way- 
ward fancy. Utilitarianism, and excitement bordering on mania, 
are the Scylla and Charybdis of our time : Talent is stranded on the 
one ; Genius is engulfed in the other. 

Great men usually appear in clusters. The germs of greatness 
exist in every generation ; but the world only once in ages passes 
through the conditions necessary to their development. In times 
of stagnation of thought and activity, the dormant powers slumber 



298 the world's crisis. 

on, unsuspected even by their possessor ; in periods of excessive 
and continued fermentation, Genius runs riot. It is only in the 
golden mean, when a country or an age is passing from stagnation 
into activity, that the greatest minds find the necessary conditions 
of successful action, and illustrate their era»with the luster of their 
thought. If the world could continue in that golden mean, great 
minds would continue to germinate ; but, unfortunately, the rising ex- 
citement either relapses into dullness or overleaps its proper bounds. 
In the former event, intellectual stupor resumes its reign : in the 
latter, genius becomes erratic ; mediocrity again becomes the stand- 
ard, and the age sets in darkness. 

The first constellation of great Grecians were nurtured in the 
shadow of Marathon. Themistocles, Aristides, Cymon, Pericles, 
Socrates, Thucydides, all derived their intellectual impulse from the 
excitement of the Persian war. But the effervescence of the Grecian 
mind ultimated in intestine wars, which kept the country in a chronic 
state of agitation. Alcibiades and Plato were the only Great 
Minds of this era. The latter was preserved from the influence of 
prevailing excitement by the seclusion of philosophic retirement, 
and left the loftiest name in the annals of ancient thought. The 
former, the greatest of all the statesmen of Greece, was borne away 
by the prevailing intoxication ; his irregularities were even more 
conspicuous than his talents, and marred the most glorious career 
of ambition a statesman ever entered upon. Greece cherished his 
memory as the greatest of her sons, less on account of his achieve- 
ments, than the transcendant abilities displayed by fitful flashes, to 
which nothing was impossible. — Henceforth, in the chronic excite- 
ment that prevailed, Athens was barren of greatness for ages. 

The Peloponnesian war raged long, before Spartan sluggishness 
was sufficiently roused to become the germinating soil of genius, 
and develop a Lysander, an Agesilaus. Under their lead, Sparta 
dominated Greece ; until the oppression of Thebes caused a revolu- 
tion which stirred Epaminondas from his philosophic retirement, to 
elevate his country to the first rank among the Grecian states. 

And, now, Macedon was about to rise from the lowest point of 
depression to imperial grandeur. Philip, who afterward ascended 
the throne of Macedonia, was carried in his youth a hostage to 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 299 

Greece. Transplanted from the heavy barbarism of his own 
country, the germ of genius expanded amid the excitement of Greek 
activity, and he became the founder of the Macedonian empire. A 
constellation of great men was developed during the wars and in- 
trigues of his reign, who assisted in the conquests of Alexander, 
and, after his death, contested with each other the possession of his 
dominions. 

It is always thus. Great men only appear when states are passing 
through a certain stage of stimulation in the progress from stagna- 
tion of thought and activity. If this particular condition of the 
public mind could be maintained continually, every age might be 
illustrated by great men. 

Rome owed its grandeur to the succession of great men whose 
genius extended its sway. The simplicity of manners which uni- 
versally prevailed, in combination with the stimulus of its con- 
stant wars, seems to have maintained among the ruling class 
just the degree of excitement necessary to the germination of 
genius. When the learning of Greece and the treasures of the 
East extended the area of mental activity to the lower orders, the 
sphere of greatness was enlarged, and the age of Caesar and Cicero 
was illustrated by a brilliant constellation of great names. But this 
was the last bright flare of the expiring lamp. The influx of wealth 
and the growth of avarice and luxury were fatal to genius, and Rome 
supinely sunk beneath the despotism of the Caesars. 

The fermentation of the public mind caused by the Reformation, 
gave to Europe the great men who stamped their seal on the suc- 
ceeding age. It generated in England the great minds who adorned 
the reign of Elizabeth, — Shakespeare, Bacon, Raleigh, Sydney, Ben 
Johnson, and a host of lesser lights. 

To the Revolution of 1640 we owe Milton, Dry den, Hampden, 
and Cromwell — and the training of Halifax, and Marlboro. 

The Revolution of 1688 and the succeeding wars with France, 
gave us Swift and Bolingbroke, and Pope and Addison, and the 
training of Dr. Johnson. 

After each of these eras the public mind of England subsided 
into inactivity. Chatham is the only great name that stands con- 
spicuous among English statesmen, during the last century. 



300 

Our War of Independence nurtured the great men who afterward 
inaugurated the government. 

The agitations of the French Revolution gave us our second 
generation of statesmen, and to Europe the constellation of genius 
which beamed forth with such unrivaled splendor in the early part 
of the century. 

And, now, the excitement subsided no more. The era of com- 
merce began, which induced the violent and universal agitation that 
now prevails, utterly destructive of the germs of genius. 

There are a few great names in every age. Whether thought is 
stagnant or agitated with a too rapid fermentation, some powerful Mind 
surrounded by favorable circumstances germinates into greatness. 
The rank whence the genius springs is a sure index of the cause of 
the general barrenness of mind. If the age is stagnant, the few 
great men who rise are from the governing class, which alone is 
reached by excitement. Such an age may develop a great states- 
man, — a Chatham, from the aristocratic class; but no great thinker 
will spring from the ranks of the people. On the other hand, when 
the fermentation is excessive, the only great men are nurtured like 
Epaminondas in retirement, and spring from obscurity at the call 
of opportunity. 

A social fermentation like that which characterizes the present 
age is peculiarly fatal to the development of mind. An excitement 
like that of Greece, arising from the continual din of arms, may 
leave the cell of philosophy in unbroken stillness to become the 
aerie of genius. But a fermentation which pervades social life 
permeates every avenue of existence. It penetrates the household; 
agitates the seat of learning ; continually thrills the youth of active 
mind and nervous temperament, and surrounds him with an atmos- 
phere of excitement until it pervades his being. A social excite- 
ment springing out of too great business activity is especially fatal 
to the development of talent. The respectability and position 
arising from wealth are set before the mind as the chief objects of 
desire. Many a youth turns from ambition and poverty to business 
and wealth. Others who choose the nobler sphere, too exciteable 
to bear with equanimity the hardship of their lot or to resist the 
temptations which beset their career, are fretted or cajoled into dis- 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 301 

sipation, soured into misanthropy, or irritated into embracing some 
of the thousand panaceas for the social evils the world is laboring 
under, which in eras of fermentation are heralded forth on every 
hand. 

In periods of fermentation like this, the general range of intellect 
gains in acuteness, perhaps ; but mind loses in majesty; and in man's 
emotional nature how great the degeneracy of this materialistic age. 

Where are the poets of our time ? Who are the successors of the 
bards whose sparkling imagery, lofty sentiment, and glowing emo- 
tion rapt all hearts, and made the beginning of this century an era 
in the annals of song ? That gallant flotilla of genius-laden barks 
has disappeared, all gone down in mid ocean, where the white waves 
still gleam in the track where Genius has been. 

Who are their successors ? The minds who might have rivaled 
their fame are engrossed in business or besotted with dissipation. 
The Author of Festus is a genius of which any age might well be 
proud ; but in this age of excitement his over- wrought fancy has 
wrested the reins from judgment, and driven with reckless daring upon 
the confines of madness. What other poets have we to fill the 
places of Byron and Shelley, Campbell and Scott ? Longfellow has 
given to the world a few gems of sentiment which might make us 
believe him a poet, were not his labored works Indian stories sung 
in crippled lines limping 

"Like the forced gait of a shuffling nag." 

The sweet lines of Tennyson entitle him to the highest place 
among the school where laborious effort seeks in polish and art com- 
pensation for the lack of that inspiration which is the seal of God 
stamped upon the soul of the poet. 

Our age has one poet who sung a majestic dirge, which Earth will 
never forget while man shall die ; and then — shame ! Bryant 
broke his harpstrings, and suspended the dishonored instrument in 
an office, an oblation at the shrine of Mammon ! the noblest offering 
ever laid before an idol altar since the ark of God was placed in the 
temple of Dagon ! We had another poet — a noble gifted nature — 
who seized the deep-toned harp Byron had flung away, and swept it 
with a stronger hand, and sung an anthem to Despair which thrills 



302 the world's crisis. 

the soul with anguish. But this age of fermentation unstrung the 
spirit of Poe, and drove him, frenzied to the verge of madness, to the 
refuge of an early grave. 

Bryant and Poe ! two among the loftiest spirits of their time ! 
fellow-captives pent within the prison walls of this commercial age ! 
the one, narrowing his mind to the walls of his cell; the other, 
driven to recklessness, despair, and death. But better the fate of 
Poe in his lowly grave, than that of Bryant in his palace. Nobler 
the eagle who beats out his life against the bars of his captivity, in 
vain longings after the aerie he can know no more, than the Prodi- 
gal, with heaven's gifts all wasted, bending his soul to slavery, and 
becoming the keeper and companion of swine. 

Poesy has suffered in this era from the influence of utilitarianism 
and excitement. It has degenerated with the taste of the age, and 
in deference to the tone of sentiment and criticism, has assumed an 
utilitarian phase. Criticism will not endure the fire and abandon 
of untrammeled genius. It has no sympathy with lofty chival- 
rous sentiment, or the volcanic burst of genuine passion. Poetry 
has been subjected to the same rules as a young lady's toilet, — it 
must be as studied, as elegant, as finished, as graceful ; and, withal, 
as stiff, as restrained, and unnatural. 

But excitement has been more fatal to poetry than utilitarianism. 
In a calmer age, the poetic temperament found its sphere in verse ; 
poetry was the dissipation of Genius. But in this age of excite- 
ment, the poetic temperament is completely unbalanced. The ex- 
citements which turn cooler heads completely unhinge Genius, and 
it is now always erratic. It soon gets beyond poetry, rioting in 
wayward fantasies, and dies in a kennel, or a madhouse. All the 
great poets are dead; hardly one lives in Europe, or America. 
But many who might adorn the era are maniacs or drunkards, 
ruined by the fermentation of our time. 

Poets are always the "fast" men of their day, as the necessity 
of their temperament. In a quiet era it required a "fast" man to 
be a poet ; no other could get beyond the pale of dullness. But no 
one is dull, now. All are excited up to the pitch of poesy, even 
when without the temperament of Genius — and Genius goes far 
beyond. Hence, in this age, our poets are men of plodding talent 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 303 

and industry, with strong common sense and a sharp eye to the main 
chance. The true poetic temperament is beyond all capacity for 
persistent effort — numbered as usual among the " fast ' ? youth, who 
are now dissipated worthless rakes, the brawlers and Bohemians 
of our cities. 

The same principle applies to orators. Almost every youth who 
gives promise of oratorical talent dies a drunkard before he reaches 
middle age. The three greatest orators of our country, men of 
profound thought, brilliant fancy, and fervid eloquence, all sleep in 
unhonored graves, — all three drunkards, one a misanthrope, and one 
a madman. In a calmer era, they might all have lived to become 
cherished household names in the nation's heart. Alas, in this age 
of bustle and hurry and excitement, for the mettled racers ! if the 
course were quiet they would bear away all prizes ; but maddened 
by the confusion and hubbub of the time, they fly the track, and 
dash themselves in pieces. 

Our stormy era is strewn with the wrecks of the noblest minds, 
who, beneath a calmer sky, would have achieved their destiny, and 
committed to mankind a fame which would never have been suffered 
to perish; but too thoughtless or gay or impulsive for a tempest- 
rocked sea, the waves of oblivion are rolling over their names buried 
and lost forever. 

In an era like this mediocrity alone succeeds. It alone possesses 
the cool head and firm nerve which excitement stimulates, but can- 
not unbalance. It alone possesses the practical common sense which 
in a materialistic age is far more prized than superior qualities. 
Mediocrity sits in high places, while genius is wallowing in the 
gutter. 

This is especially true of England and our own country, which 
are the centers of commercial activity, and industrial and social ex- 
citement. Continental Europe is not yet so completely in the 
vortex, and, there, genius still maintains its ascendancy. The Em- 
peror of the French is a man of transcendant ability, whose nature 
is a combination of great qualities never before, perhaps, united in 
the same person, and in their union stamping him a prodigy of 
greatness. Bold as Caesar, prudent as Washington, subtle, yet pro- 



304 the world's crisis. 

found, ambitious, yet patient — men of his stamp appear but once 
in ages, the agents of destiny for the accomplishment of great 
events. Cavour, the Italian minister, was a man of decided genius, — 
broad, comprehensive views, far-reaching ambition, wary, sagacious, 
patient, a soul of flame and a hand of iron. The Prussian minister,* 
Count Bismark, also bids fair with favoring fortune to become the 
Richelieu of his country. — But where are the great names of En- 
gland or America? 

In America, who are the successors, in jurisprudence, of Marshall 
and Story? in eloquence, of Henry and Randolph and Choate and 
Clay? in statesmanship, of Madison and Jefferson and Hamilton? 
of Calhoun and Webster ? — of Douglas ? the last and greatest of 
them all ! the last great American whose heart was large enough to 
contain his whole country ! sole leader of an era of stormy faction 
whose only aim was his country's good ! who fought the battle of 
the Union with undaunted courage to the last, against foes who 
hemmed him round on every side, and when the battle was lost and 
hope had fled, laid himself down to die amid the ruins of his country ! 

We should hardly expect to find in our own country worthy suc- 
cessors in public life of the great men of a former generation; for 
the excitement of trade has withdrawn the talent of the country 
from the walks of learning, to business pursuits. A few bright 
names adorn public life — the brighter for the prevailing dearth of 
talent ; but business or dissipation has engulfed the great mass of 
mind. But in England, there is a class that holds aloof from traffic, 
and is devoted to literature and the duties of government, as their 
sole occupation. Yet we observe in England the same dearth of 
talent. 

This era of excited traffic has dwarfed the mind of England in 
every department of thought. 

In Literature, Macauley and Allison, Sir William Hamilton, Bul- 
wer Lytton and Dickens and Thackeray, are the leading authors of 
the time. They all received their intellectual training and bias be- 



* This was written before the recent German war, before it was known whether 
success would crown the bold policy of the great Prussian minister. 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 305 

fore the excited commercial era began; and they should be ranked 
as stragglers, lagging behind the age to which they belong. En- 
gland has no man under fifty reared amid the influences of the era 
of commercial excitement, who gives any promise of high distinc- 
tion in letters. There are no young Byrons and Scotts and Shel- 
ley s and Campbells and Keates and Coleridges, now. Every writer 
and orator and thinker that England can boast, belongs to a former 
generation ; and those now alive were kept aloof from the excite- 
ments of commerce. 

Hamilton was trained to the seclusion of his study while thought 
was yet calm, and brought up the rear of the corps of distinguished 
metaphysicians who had gone before. 

Bulwer Lytton, the only other real genius among the number, 
was less fortunate than Hamilton. He was not protected by seclu- 
sion from the influences of the outside world. He began his career 
animated with a fierce hatred of social wrongs, of which he failed 
to discover the source, and all his works were colored with the tragic 
hue of his thought. Time and prosperity softened his nature to a 
more genial frame, but at the same time brought him within the 
vortex of social excitement; and Bulwer became a dreamer and a 
spiritualist, involved in the idle speculations of the day. 

Of the others, none — unless we except Dickens — are men of real 
genius. They are talented, cultivated men, skilled in rhetorical 
arts, and endowed with the persistent energy that would have won 
success in any business as readily as in literature. They are all 
fine word painters ; their pictures are beautiful as works of art ; 
but they are not what they were intended to be, — good likenesses. 

Dickens is a warm-hearted, genial caricaturist, whose greatest 
excellence is his sympathy with the humble and the oppressed, who 
have none other to pity. 

Thackeray is a satirist filled with bitterness against society which 
had galled his pride — a Mephistophiles, gibing with mocking laugh- 
ter the vices and follies of a class he at once envies and scorns. 

A great historian is, of necessity, a statesman, and a man of 

genius. He must be able to unravel the chain of causation which 

constitutes his narrative, and enter into the motives and impulses 

of the characters he delineates. Macaulay's excellence as an 

20 



306 

essayist and a historian consists in this latter quality. He forms his 
conceptions, not through the intuition of genius, but by dint of labo- 
rious application, and gives us vivid, but inaccurate pictures of the 
men and times he portrays. His mind is acute and patient of labor, 
but lacks statesmanlike breadth of view, and the imaginative power 
of conception that would have enabled him to enter into the feelings 
and motives of the characters which appear on the stage. A great 
historian needs to be endowed with the qualities both of a states- 
man, and a poet; — and he is neither. He is a Whig of the Nine- 
teenth century, bringing the ideas of his time to the portraiture of 
the events of the Seventeenth. In Parliament, notwithstanding his 
sparkling rhetoric, he failed from the same deficiency of endowment 
which rendered his history inaccurate and defective. 

The only qualities of a historian Allison possesses are patience of 
labor and rhetorical skill. A narrow-minded politician, devoted to 
an order of things fast disappearing before the march of mind, he 
vents his spleen in caricaturing events whose causes he does not 
comprehend, and characters whose motives he fails to conceive. 

None of these are men of true genius ; or, exposed to the influ- 
ences that surround them, they would, like Bulwer, have been swept 
away. They are to be ranked with the men of talent for whom the 
stimulus of excitement is necessary. They were fortunate in the 
circumstances of their time. In ordinary times they might not have 
risen above mediocrity. If they had been subjected in early life to 
the excitement of the age, it would have prevented the formation of 
the mental habitude to which they owe their success ; brought to 
bear upon them when their habits had been formed, it stimulated 
their faculties into unnatural activity, and enabled them to achieve 
a position in literature they could never otherwise have attained. 

We observe, in England, the same dearth of talent, in public life. 

The great orators of the past have been succeeded by a race of 
talkers — the politicians of an utilitarian age — men of practical in- 
tellect and common sense views, whose ideas are bounded by topics 
of commercial industry. In England, aristocracy and common sense 
have formed an alliance like the mingling of snow and salt ; the 
resultant product is a polar frost. Aristocracy has chilled Common 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 307 

Sense, and common sense has stiffened aristocracy, until the modern 
English orator cannot unbend sufficiently for a flight of eloquence. 
Eloquence involves deep emotion ; the Englishman of the present 
day is too proud to display emotion, — encased in his pride, he is as 
stiff as a knight in armor. Eloquence involves the admission of a 
desire to persuade others ; an Englishman is too haughty to stoop 
to persuasion. He glories in his indifference to all men, and all 
things ; in society the blase affectation of utter indifference is the 
perfection of manner, which it is the ambition of youth to acquire ; 
and it is the perfection of modern English oratory, to utter common 
place truisms in a style of conversational indifference. To display 
emotion and to evince desire to persuade others, are alike derogatory 
to the dignity of an Englishman ; while the attempt at persuasion 
is an insult to the pride of the audience. A burst of genuine feeling 
in the English Parliament would produce an explosion like the fall 
of a mass of heated metal upon an iceberg, and the unlucky orator 
would be sputtered and cooled down about as quick. The unhappy 
speaker who is betrayed by emotion into a burst of eloquence is 
instantly apprised of his blunder by a storm of ironical applause, 
which evinces in the most forcible manner the contempt and offended 
dignity of his hearers. 

The pride of the British aristocracy even chilled at last the fiery 
soul of Brougham, who has been for thirty years in the House of 
Lords, an extinguished cinder. The English Liberals have, in the 
wrongs of the People whose cause they advocate, a theme grander 
than that which inspired Demosthenes. But their lips are dumb ; 
they dare not raise the voice of indignant and eloquent remonstrance. 
The chain of aristocratic pride is on their souls. Cobden and 
Bright — men who would do honor to the mercantile profession, 
but without a spark of genius — forcible, common sense talkers — 
politicians of the utilitarian school — are favorable specimens of the 
better class of modern English speakers. In this commercial age, 
England has lost the capacity to appreciate, as well as to produce, 
the higher flights of oratory. 

Nor is Great Britain more fortunate in her present school of states- 
men. The great ministers of the past — the Chathams, the Pitts, who 



308 the world's crisis. 

swayed king and parliament with the might of their imperious will, 
and raised England to the first rank, making it the center round 
which European politics revolved, have passed away. England has 
no great statesmen now. Not one of her politicians has given evi- 
dence of ability to grasp the elements of the situation, and weigh 
the causes that give direction to events. 

The ministers, of England, now, are mere time-serving placemon- 
gers, ambitious of power, and with sufficient craft to devise means 
to secure it. Palmerston— a Tory in sentiment, a Whig in party 
connection, and a faithless ally of the Liberals — a trickster in home, 
and a shuffler in foreign politics — is the model type of the modern 
English minister, and was the most popular of all who have for a 
century governed the country. 

Twenty years ago, England was the first power in Europe, the 
friend of every nation on the continent, and the recognized leader 
of the age. Now, with quadrupled resources, her weak and tortuous 
policy has made her the object of general derision. Napoleon with 
far inferior resources supplanted her in political influence, and re- 
duced her to a cypher. She alienated Russia and the great German 
powers, and lost the respect of France and Italy. For years, she 
has stood alone in Europe, hated and contemned by all, through the 
wretched incapacity and impolicy of her rulers. Dotards, and 
usurers with capital increasing at compound interest, and with no 
thought but for gain, — they and their tools sway the councils of 
Britain. Administering the government for selfish advantage, they 
ignore the best interests of their country and mankind, and in the 
pursuit of a narrow, selfish policy are suffering all to drive on to 
shipwreck. 

The resources and the power of England are tenfold greater now 
than when she controlled the destiny of the world. A great states- 
man, now, might give her greater influence than ever before, and ren- 
der her the arbiter of Europe. It needs only a quick eye, a firm will, 
and a strong arm, to guide Europe safely through the breakers that 
beat around it, and give to England quiet, and to the world centu- 
ries of peace. England might do it ; no other nation can. With a 
crew of patriots upon her decks and a statesman at the helm, England 
might be put before the storm that is sweeping down upon our Age, 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 309 

and the nations of the Old World would follow safely in her wake. 
But, instead, while the tempest is gathering in the heavens and a 
hollow murmur is upon the deep whose surges are already rising, 
England lies wallowing, a huge, unwieldy hulk, in the trough of the 
sea. for a year of Chatham with his eagle eye and lion heart, to 
awe the aristocracy of Britain, now, as he once awed her feudal 
nobility, and by the might of his commanding genius save England 
and the world ! 

Sect. II. — The Prevailing Mania of Thought and Impulse. 

If the excitement of the era of commerce had merely caused a 
dearth of mind, it would have wrought a grievous evil ruinous to 
the progress of the age ; for, from the age of Tarquin it has been 
known that the destruction of the leading minds of a country is the 
surest method of subverting a state. 

But more than this must be charged against the prevailing social 
effervescence. It has not only created a dearth of great minds ; it 
has filled the world with the bubbling froth of mental and moral ex- 
citement. 

The mind of the age, tossed in perpetual unrest, has lost its tone. 
Conservatism of thought, of principle, is no more. The perpetual 
dashing of the billows has displaced the buoys, that served to mark 
the proper channel of thought, and adventurous minds are con- 
stantly dashing into wreck upon the shoals that bound the way. 
Genius is constantly exploring new and impossible theories of 
progress. Novelty is the rage. Old things are held to be wrong 
because old and established. New theories of government, of mor- 
als, of religion, are broached on every hand. Every theorist has 
his hobby, which is the panacea for all the ills man labors under ; 
and no hobby is too absurd to find zealous votaries among brains 
turned with social and business excitement. 

An unsettled brain is marked by the dominance of a single idea. 
The world is full of monomaniacs — political monomaniacs — social 
monomaniacs — religious monomaniacs; all having some ruling idea — 
some special direction their frenzy takes — some special object of 
hatred, to overthrow which they are willing to involve every thing 
in wreck. 



310 the world's crisis. 

The tendency of all these visionaries, however, is to greater 
license. Some assail one, some another of the conservative ele- 
ments of social order, which impose restraint upon the unbridled 
passions of man. An extension of liberty is the common cry of 
all. Their rantings do great injury, by misleading many, and by 
producing a reaction in the minds of many against conservative 
progress. Though longing for a better order of things, the world 
dreads these distempered phantasms, and prefers to cling to the 
evils of the past, rather than throw down the dikes to the dashings 
of radical innovation. None know where it would end ; the inno- 
vator of the present would be out-Heroded by the wilder innovator 
of the future, until every principle of order were lost, and society 
resolved into, a mass of chaotic elements. Thus mankind, like a 
madman with enough reason left to misdoubt his fancies and dread 
their promptings, is ready to extinguish the torch of progress, lest 
it should set the world on flame. 

Political Monomaniacs. 

First among these visionaries, we notice those whose mania takes 
a political direction. 

The Red Republican finds the source of all evils in the protection 
extended by government to vested rights, and would save the world, 
by leveling all distinctions, and placing mankind upon the platform 
of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. In dread of his doctrines, France 
cowered back beneath Imperialism, for protection against the evils 
of licentious liberty unbridled by conservatism and reason. 

The political monomaniacs of America, like their brethren of 
France, have revolted against the protection afforded by our consti- 
tution to vested rights, and have set the country on fire to destroy 
the object of their hate. One-half our land lies blackened and des- 
olate; and, unless they are timely checked, the flames of desolation 
may spread, until the whole country is involved in one common 
ruin. They have acted as madly as a frenzied lunatic who, to de- 
stroy the vermin that infest his cellar, pulls down the foundation 
walls of his house, and continues to glory in his sagacity and reso- 
lution until the toppling building whelms him in its ruins. 



social excitement. 311 

Social Monomaniacs. 

Many classes of social monomaniacs exist, who rant their frenzied 
crudities to audiences almost as frenzied as they. 

One class finds the germ of all evils in the social position of 
woman, which they choose to term subordinate. They hold that if 
the softness of woman's nature were hardened into steel by rough 
contact with social and political life, it would work the regeneration 
of our race. They would mar the one redeeming feature of so- 
ciety, — the gentle clinging tenderness of woman, which so fits her to 
soothe the excitements and soften into gentleness the asperities of 
the masculine nature ; and would transform her into a hard, stern, 
strong-minded creature, wrestling and struggling with life, endeav- 
oring to compensate the lack of strength and massiveness of organ- 
ism by fiery excitability, and degenerating into a fierce, malignant, 
revengeful virago. An unsexed woman is a demon. A race of 
women formed upon the model of these monomaniacs would be the 
mothers of a race of savages. 

Another class find all evils in the restraints of the matrimonial 
relation ! They believe the race will never improve until it is ani- 
malized and riots in the license of bestial liberty! 

Another class find in communism a remedy for all social evils. 
Beholding the sufferings of poverty and the riotous luxury of wealth, 
their souls are filled with indignation at the unequal distribution of 
social blessings. They behold mankind universally disquieted by 
care — the care of avarice, or the care of penury; and they would 
cut the Gordian knot of social ill by an universal distribution of 
goods. In other words, they would confiscate the property of the 
industrious, prosperous class, for the benefit of vagabonds and Bo- 
hemians ; they would convert the world into a vast poor-house sys- 
tem, where the industrious should work for the support of the slug- 
gards, until at last mutual disgust should empty the lazar-house 
Babels, and disperse over the earth a race of barbarians destitute 
of the principles of government and the rules of social order. 

But another class of these social reformers surpass all their 
brethren in zeal and frenzy. They, too, believe in the perfecta- 
bility of the human race, and they would destroy sin by removing 



312 the world's crisis. 

the law. These philosophers hold that selfishness and covetousness 
of property and person, are the leashed bloodhounds that are hunting 
down the happiness of man. They would destroy these two twin 
passions : starve self-love, by allowing man nothing to call his own 
— neither property, nor wife, nor children ; and kill covetousness, 
with a surfeit — by giving man full and free possession of every- 
thing he desired! The selfishness which desires exclusive posses- 
sion of anything, they say, is odious — wholly opposed to the golden 
rule of benevolence which loves our neighbor as ourself ! If man 
loved his fellow as himself, he would not wish to claim any exclusive 
blessing either in love or wealth ; and the narrow selfishness of 
the human heart should be mortified, that the broad principle of 
universal benevolence may sway his soul ! " What a beautiful 
world," they cry with enthusiasm, " would it be, with every man 
possessing nothing and having everything — his soul neither nar- 
rowed with selfishness, nor fevered with vain desire of others' bless- 
ings — free alike from carking care, and gnawing envy — and with no 
narrow family ties to fetter the heart's expansive benevolence and 
prevent its embracing all mankind. Then, indeed, would the world 
be happy!" 

Yes, happy as beasts ! provided man could swap his soul for an- 
other pair of legs ! 

All these various forms of socialistic mania are based upon the 
infidel assumption that Christianity is a failure ; that its principles 
of religion and social life might answer for a less enlightened age, 
but that the world has now advanced beyond them and requires a 
new platform — a new adjustment of social relations better adapted 
to the elevated stand-point of this age of enlightened progress ! 
And the class of theorists thus far mentioned look to social and 
governmental reforms as the great source of amelioration, to the 
exclusion of the religious idea. 

Religious Monomaniacs. 
But there is another class of reformers crazed by the excitement 
of this age. They, too, believe Christianity a failure, but they sev- 
erally look to other systems of religion as the source whence the 
world is to expect its deliverance. 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 313 

Some of these systems claim to be modifications of Christianity — 
later revelations to favored children of Heaven. 

Mormonism numbers its votaries by millions. Its appeals to a 
morbid imagination, and its toleration of polygamy, constitute to a 
certain class of excited minds irresistible attractions ; and, through 
the tragic death of Joe Smith, it is glorified in excited fancies with 
the blood of a martyred prophet. 

Swedenborg was a man whose sensitive organism made him the 
subject of clairvoyant phenomena, which, being then unknown, 
turned his brain and convinced him that he was the chosen prophet 
of a new revelation. The remarkable phenomena of which he was 
the subject challenged the conviction of a few wonder-mongers of 
his own time, but made little impression upon the public mind. But 
the excited imaginativeness of our era has brought myriads of 
minds into a fit state to embrace his fanciful dreamings. His vota- 
ries are numbered by millions ; and they continue to increase as the 
excitement of the time ripens into more decided delirium. 

But Spiritualism is less modest than its rival manias. It discards 
Christianity as an ultimate revelation, and professes to open revela- 
tions from another world to all its votaries. 

This age has many Swedenborgs. Amid the prevailing excite- 
ment, many sensitive natures have developed an abnormal organism 
once very rare, which gives a clairvoyant power construed into 
revelations from the unseen world. The suggestions of an insane 
fancy are credited as spiritual revelations, and are regarded as the 
highest authority in establishing principles for the regulation of 
social, moral, and religious life. The millions of votaries of spirit- 
ualism daily seek new revelations from the spirit land. The necro- 
mancy of the olden time, probably engendered in the excitement 
of the first age of Phoenician commerce, has been revived among 
us. Man, discarding the guidance of reason, is again seeking 
answers from oracles, and asking of the dead enlightenment and 
direction. So far has it gone, that every sovereign in Europe is a 
spiritualist. The Queen of England is lost to the world while seek- 
ing daily communion with the spirit of her deceased husband. Napo- 
leon III takes counsel, as he fancies, with great statesmen and sages 



314 THE world's crisis. 

of past ages, who suggest the policy he should adopt. All the sov- 
ereigns of Europe, disquieted and oppressed by fear of those things 
which are coming on the earth, are seeking, like Saul, to the dead, 
for counsel and direction. 

And what is Christianity doing ? If the age will not follow its 
guidance, it might at least lock the wheels and check the mad rush 
toward ruin. The only conservative principle that is left to curb 
the madness of the time, is reverence for divine authority. Were 
the majesty of God proclaimed — the holiness of His law — the blind- 
ness of man — his weakness and sinfulness — the race might hear, and 
be humbled into submission to Jehovah ; or, at least, the headstrong 
pride which now riots uncontrolled would be held in check, and 
prevented from making man the victim of his own wayward and 
unbridled fancies. Why this seeking to the dead? this bending in 
homage to the fancies of Swedenborg, and the pretensions of the 
Mormon impostor ? It is because the Christian ministry ceased to 
claim the veneration of mankind for the Bible. Christianity dropped 
the reins, and the riderless horse is seeking a master. Man must 
revere something — must bow to something with blind veneration ; 
and when the Christian ministry no longer challenge his reverence 
for God, he bows his neck to the yoke of necromancy and the pre- 
tensions of imposture. 

It is the worst misfortune of the time that the votaries of Chris- 
tianity are maddened too. The excitement that prevails has swept 
religious thought from its moorings. Imagination rules the hour, 
and leads reason captive to adorn its triumph. The votaries of 
Christianity are divided into two classes, equally wayward, and 
almost equally mad. The pious and despondent give up the world 
to ruin ; they turn to prophecy for comfort, and await in rapt and 
hopeful expectation the coming of their Lord, to arrest the progress 
of impiety and summon man to judgment. But the largest class of 
professed Christians partake of the visionary theories which agitate 
the age. They discard reverence for divine revelation where it 
comes in conflict with their views. They have forgot the precepts 
of the religion of peace, of reverence, of love, and joined the hell- 
dance of madness and passion. They follow the meteor flame gen- 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 315 

dered of the general fermentation, supposing it the beacon light of 
progress. Religion is no longer reverence for God and obedience 
to his will ; it is devotion to the principles of progress recognized 
in this generation. 

Shepherd and flock are gone astray together. Preachers love 
popularity ; and congregations variously agitated with business cares, 
fashionable jealousies, stormy politics, and fiery fiction, will not listen 
patiently to an earnest appeal to the conscience, or devoutly to a 
presentation of the majesty of God. Veneration and conscientious- 
ness are overwhelmed in the prevailing excitement : besides, these 
views are old ; and to minds so long swept onward in the excited 
rush from one novelty to another, familiar thought has lost its charm. 
The ministry, moreover, has been swept along with the current of 
agitated feeling, and is prepared to become the organ of the pre- 
vailing intoxication of thought. Consequently, the pulpit, instead 
of asserting the conservative dignity of Christianity, and command- 
ing man, everywhere, to repent and bow down in humility before 
God, is hounding on the excitement, and represents the Almighty 
as the leader of the cry. 

The truths which teach humility are ignored. The ministry sat- 
isfy the consciences and please the self-love of admiring audiences, 
by rousing their hatred of sins not their own, and, like the authors 
of fiction, inspiring them w T ith pity of sorrows far away that do not 
appeal to self-sacrificing benevolence. They are lecturers upon 
popular and exciting topics appertaining to philanthropy and pro- 
gress, suited to the prevailing taste; and afford their audiences on 
the Sabbath an agreeable entertainment, as exciting in its way as 
the lectures, the theaters, the- political harangues, the ball-rooms, 
and concerts that occupy their weekly hours. They have lowered 
Christianity to the level of the various Deistical movements of the 
day, representing its grand aim as social advancement, instead of 
the salvation of men. They encourage their hearers to question the 
inspiration of the bible, by setting human reason and the suggestions 
of a fanatical spirit above its teachings. The professed ministers 
of Jesus are beginning to question the divinity of the Savior, and, 
even while ministering in the functions of their office, are marshaling 
on the hosts of infidelity. 



316 the world's crisis. 

The excitement of the age has mastered the citadel of conserva- 
tism and turned its guns against opposition, and is almost undisputed 
master of the field. 

Whence all this fermentation? these debasing, or fanciful theories 
of social reform ? these inquiries after new forms of religion ? these 
seekings after counsel from the dead? these panderings of current 
Christianity to the wayward impulses of the hour ? It is not the 
march of mind ; for the age is characterized by the vagaries of a 
wayward imagination, not the fixed conclusions of calm, enlightened 
reason. Sober thought is silent and unregarded, while our genera- 
tion is watching the speculative flights of soaring fancy. 

The World is fast going mad. Wisdom is discarded and the mad 
fancies of lunatic spirits, under the guise of oracles from the de- 
parted, are assuming the guidance of mankind. What can we hope 
when madness leads the thought, and directs the counsels of the age? 
This generation is moving on in a bacchanal procession where the 
wildest are the leaders. Crazed genius marshals the dance, and, 
drunken with excitement, the thoughtless multitude rush on, frantic 
with baseless hope and maniac glee — to ruin. It is fruitless to argue 
with madmen — to point to the evils that already environ them. — 
All is well. They have escaped from the bondage of thought which 
fettered past ages ! they are in the wilderness now — but are bound 
to the land of promise ! — and, heedless of argument or remonstrance, 
they rush blindly on. — Ah ! whither will the pillar of darkness that 
guides their footsteps lead them ? 

This agitation of the human mind arose nearly forty years ago 
with the expansion of the new commercial era. The agitation for 
Reform in England, the Polish insurrection, and the Revolution in 
France which dethroned Charles XII, mark its inception in Europe ; 
as strikingly, as the political tempest which overswept our country 
during the administration of Jackson, displays its rise in America. 

It was repressed in Europe, by power ; in America, by financial 
revulsion. 

But the flood continued to rise, until, in 1848, it overflowed Eu- 
rope and America with political excitement. 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 317 

Power again repaired the broken dykes in Europe ; and Compro- 
mise, in America. 

Bat the torrent has gone on deepening and swelling ever since, 
as the growing commerce of Britain has increased. And still that 
exciting commerce continues its annual expansion, increasing the 
volume of excitement, which is threatening to deluge the earth, and 
sweep away all vestiges of order and civilized progress. 

In our own country, the frenzy of passion and speculative thought 
have overleaped all bounds, and the billows of excitement are rolling 
a general deluge over the land. All the landmarks of our fathers 
have been obliterated beneath the rising flood. The old features of 
social and industrial life are lost. The surges of commerce dash 
unceasingly where placid content and quiet routine once reigned. 
Frothlike theories of progress and reform are bubbling up to the 
surface, everywhere agitated and seething with fermentation. The 
ark of the Constitution, freighted with the hopes of man, is drifting 
tempest-broken, upon the heaving billows. The dove of peace has 
returned, but bearing no olive branch in its mouth. — The same causes 
which have wrought our ruin, are everywhere in operation. Com- 
mercial excitement, and, with it, social agitation, is rapidly increasing. 
The world is already rocking in the throes of an universal earth- 
quake. The fountains of the deep are breaking up. Alas for man, 
unless the agitation subside ! The foundations of social life will be 
everywhere upheaved ; society will rock into ruins, and chaos come 
again. 



CHAPTER II. 

OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 

The social excitement gendered by the commercial system of 
Great Britain is the only social evil that has, thus far, been noticed. 

But that system has given rise to another great social evil ; it en- 
riches the wealthy class far beyond all former precedent, and de- 
presses poverty into an abyss of wretchedness. 



318 

The oppression of poverty is a necessary result of a system where 
commerce flourishes at the expense of productive industry. 

It has already been shown how the false industrial system of our 
own country, which placed the market at an immense distance from 
the producer, built up cities, and enriched merchants and specula- 
tors and capitalists, at the expense of the producing and laboring 
classes. While speculators flourished, the farming interest was 
prejudiced; and the Southern negro, the New England operative, 
and the laboring class of our cities, were all grievously oppressed. 

The commerce of England has extended the same system over 
the industry of the whole earth, with similar results. In every 
country reached by British commerce, cities are growing with un- 
precedented rapidity, in which merchants and speculators, the agents 
of commerce, are amassing colossal fortunes by the traffic with En- 
gland ; while the agriculturists are weighed down by the high price 
of importations and the low rate of produce ; and labor is oppressed 
by the inadequate rate of wages in proportion to the price of all 
articles of consumption. 

Every country in Europe and America feels the pernicious influ- 
ence of this centralized commerce. The British manufacturer must 
keep the price of the raw produce he consumes reduced to the low- 
est possible rate. The British merchant, to keep within the limit 
of price set by the manufacturer and yet realize his profit, oppresses 
his laborers to the verge of starvation, and cuts down the price of 
the foreign merchant to the narrowest margin of profit: to make his 
profit, the foreign merchant must pay clerks and city laborers the 
merest pittance sufficient for subsistence, and cut down the price of 
the speculator who gathers and forwards his raw commodities: the 
speculator, in turn, to make his profit, must oppress the employes 
of transportation, and cut down the price of the producer; and the 
producer in self-defense, must oppress his employes. Thus, the sys- 
tem, while enriching speculators and capitalists, who compensate 
for the smallness of their per centage of profits by the quantity of 
goods they forward, is oppressing industry, and grinding the poor 
into utter wretchedness, all over the earth. 

But the population of Great Britain, more than any other, suffers 



SOCIAL EXCITEMENT. 319 

from the effects of this commercial centralization. The commercial 
aristocracy of Britain is aggrandized beyond all former precedent ; 
but the poor are crushed into a reeking mass of suffering which a 
philanthropic mind is filled with anguish to behold. 

The oppression of the operative is not a necessary condition of 
manufactures. Commerce is not a car of Juggernaut, advancing 
over the crushed bodies of those who bear it onward. If the in- 
dustry of the world were suffered to flow in natural channels, every 
class of labor would purchase abundance in return for toil. If raw 
material were manufactured in the several countries where it is pro- 
duced, the cheapness of provisions w T ould enable the operative to 
live comfortably upon the wages which, in England, where provisions 
of every kind are imported from abroad, will scarcely yield subsist- 
ence. The false system of commercial industry which England has 
brought about, while bloating the wealth of the country, has, at the 
same time, made it a lazar-house of loathsome poverty. By the im- 
portation of raw material from all the world, a population is kept 
engaged in manufactures and commerce much beyond the capacity 
of the agriculture of the British islands to maintain. They are 
crowded in cities whose atmosphere is laden with the gases of the 
coal consumed in manufactures, which, prevented by the dampness 
of the climate from rising, pollutes the air almost to suffocation. 
While the operatives of the manufactories retain their health and 
ability to labor, their wages, though not adequate to their wants, 
will keep them from actual starvation. But when overwork, foul 
air, and privation, outweary nature, a single fit of sickness con- 
sumes the scanty resources pinching economy has laid aside. When 
the laborer recovers, he often finds his place filled by some new ap- 
plicant; and if he fail soon to obtain employment, his furniture, his 
clothing, go to the shop of the pawn-broker, and he sinks into the 
ranks of the unfortunates — a very numerous class of British pop- 
ulation — who, without regular employment, hopeless, starving, fester 
in a reeking mass of suffering in the great cities. The English are 
used to sights of suffering ; from custom, they cease to regard it; but 
the degradation of humanity which this system has caused, the 
poverty, the harrowing wretchedness that every where meets the 



320 the world's crisis. 

eye, call upon Heaven and earth to overturn the system of indus- 
try which founds the prosperity of the few upon the misery of the 
many. 

Before entering at large upon this, subject, it is necessary to note 
some of the distinctions which obtain in English society. 

British subjects are divided, politically, into two classes, — the 
Nobility, and the Commons. Below these is a mass of population, 
which used to be commonly termed the rabble, or dregs of society, 
having no political rights. 

But the nomenclature which now obtains is deduced from social 
gradation. In this classification, English society is divided into 
three grades, — the Aristocracy, consisting of the Nobility and 
Gentry ; the Middle class ; and the Working class. 

Each of these classes has its own aristocracy. There is the aris- 
tocracy of the aristocrats ; the aristocracy of the Middle class ; the 
aristocracy of the Working class. 

The Aristocracy par excellence consists of the titled nobility of the 
realm, who inherit rank and lands by primogeniture. The descend- 
ants of the younger sons of nobility simply rank as gentry. They 
belong to the aristocracy by right of blood, and enjoy the social dis- 
tinction thus conferred. They may be termed the plebeians of the 
Aristocracy. 

The noble English Aristocracy holds its position in virtue of blood 
and wealth. The heir to the title inherits the lands, as essential to 
maintain his rank. Daughters and younger sons must be provided 
for by the savings of their aristocratic parents. These descendants 
of noble houses are numbered in the ranks of the Gentry so long as 
they have sufficient property to support them without resorting to 
any industrial pursuit. In Great Britain, branches of the Aristoc- 
racy may, consistently with their caste, become clergymen or law- 
yers ; may enter the army or navy ; or occupy a post under govern- 
ment, in some department of the civil administration. All other 
pursuits are considered degrading. As soon as necessity compels 
the adoption of any industrial occupation, social position is lost, and 
the person sinks, as the case may be, into the Middle, or the Work- 
ing class. It is, therefore, the special care of aristocratic parents 
to provide for their younger children. 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 321 

The Middle class is distinguished from the noble Aristocracy 
above them, as being of plebeian descent, and engaged in some busi- 
ness avocation ; and from the Working class below, as possessing 
sufficient means to obviate the necessity of personal labor. The 
Middle class has its own aristocracy, consisting of the great mer- 
chants, manufacturers, shippers; an aristocracy of wealth, as dis- 
tinguished from the aristocracy of blood. The mass of the Middle 
class comprises all embarking capital in industrial pursuits who do 
not engage in personal labor, — the merchant who overlooks his 
clerks; the manufacturer; the gentleman farmer who employs his cap- 
ital in the cultivation of rented lands ; and all persons not of noble 
blood, engaged in the learned professions and government service. 

The Working class comprises all who are in service ; and all who 
engage in personal labor, in any department of business. Shop, 
or storekeepers who attend behind their own counter, clerks, teach- 
ers, governesses, artisans, mechanics, laborers, swell the ranks of 
the Working class. — But the aristocratic principle is as visible, here, 
as in the classes above them. The Working men have their aris- 
tocracy, who regard the suffering and degraded millions below them 
with as much contempt and as little sympathy as is felt for them- 
selves by the higher aristocracy of the land. The shopkeeper who 
works in his own store is much higher in the social scale than those 
who work for hire. The teacher and the clerk hold themselves 
above the mechanic who labors with his hands ; and the latter, 
having regular, steady employment at fixed wages, regard themselves 
as immeasurably superior to the millions of laborers employed in 
commerce, in agriculture, and in the various menial departments of 
industry. 

These three grades of society, — the Aristocracy, the Middle 
class, the Working class, are universally recognized in England. 
There are first, second, and third class seats in lecture rooms, thea- 
ters, and churches ; first, second, and third class cars on railroads ; 
and the undertakers announce upon their signs, "First class burials," 
" Second class burials," " Third class burials," with the respective 
charges attached to each. 

The system of centralized commerce that prevails has benefited 
21 



322 

the landed nobility, who have increased their rents four fold ; and 
the Middle class aristocracy, who engross the manufacturing and 
commercial industry of the world ; but it has grievously oppressed 
the great mass of British population belonging to all these classes. 
Its tendency is to increase the aggregation of wealth, and to multi- 
•p]j the burdens of poverty. 

The British Aristocracy has always been the richest nobility in 
the world ; but, now, its wealth is inordinately increased. It derives 
all the advantage of the high prices of provisions and raw material 
induced by the establishment of manufactures. The nobility have 
increased their rents, so as to restrict the profits of the farmers 
within as narrow limits as before, and compel the wages of the farm 
laborer to be stinted to a degree that deprives them of all the com- 
forts of life. The titled nobility have further increased their wealth 
by intermarriages with the heiresses of the Middle class aristocracy. 
The British Islands were once full of small farms owned by resident 
farmers. But this yeoman class of country squires is rapidly be- 
coming extinct. The nobility are buying up more lands in every 
generation. The aggregation of landed estates has already pro- 
gressed so far that some half a dozen nobles own half the lands in 
England. In a few years more the nobility will possess almost all 
the lands in Great Britain. 

While the landed nobility are thus increasing their wealth, by 
imposing heavier rents, and by intermarriages with the commercial 
aristocracy, the younger scions of the noble aristocracy, who con- 
stitute the great majority of the aristocratic class, suffer severely 
from the commercial system which, by concentrating manufactures 
and commerce in England, has exaggerated the price of all the 
necessaries of life. The lower orders endure excessive privations ; 
but it is doubtful whether the poorer class of the Aristocracy are 
not the most wretched people in England. Reared in the enjoyment 
of luxury, and with all the inflated pride of their class, they are 
turned upon the world without the means necessary to support their 
rank. Their best hope is to obtain a settlement in life by marrying 
heiresses of the Middle class aristocracy. Failing this, the more 
fortunate obtain, by the influence of relatives, appointments under 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 323 

government. But even these have meager salaries, scarcely suf- 
ficient for support, much less to meet the expenses incident to their 
position in society. They marry and raise families with that 
pinching economy which sacrifices comfort in the attempt to keep 
up appearances. But, worst of all, they have not the means of 
settling their children in life ; their pinched resources being strained 
to the utmost, to afford them an education suited to their quality. 

The second generation of the younger branches of the Aristocracy 
begin to feel severely the miseries of their position. Debarred from 
engaging in business by the pride of descent, they are utterly with- 
out resources to maintain their pretensions. They become, of neces- 
sity, hangers on of their noble relations. A few are so fortunate as 
to obtain the patronage and aid of the head of their house ; but he 
is usually too much occupied in saving fortunes for his own younger 
children to extend much assistance to his brother's family. Some 
of them are so fortunate as to marry heiresses. The others must 
become starving curates, pinch their way in the law, or accept some 
very subordinate position under government. They are provided 
for in some humble way ; for they are too nearly related to the head 
of the house to be allowed to forfeit caste, by engaging in trade. 

In the next generation, however, blood loses its potency. The 
children of the humble curates, struggling lawyers, army lieutenants, 
must crush their pride of descent, to engage in any humble employ- 
ment that may offer the means of subsistence. This struggle 
between pride and poverty racks the soul with agony. The humble 
plebeian, whatever his privations, endures only physical suffering. 
He pines with hunger and shivers with cold ; but he knows nothing 
of the torture of a spirit vainly struggling in fierce revolt against 
its destiny. 

Perhaps no class on earth endure such complicated miseries as 
the impoverished scions of Aristocracy. They were wretched 
before, with means miserably inadequate to their wants. But now, 
the cost of living is vastly increased by the enhancement of prices 
caused by the centralization of commerce. The system which ag- 
grandizes the Nobility who inherit titles and estates, makes victims 
of the great mass of the class distinguished by noble blood. 



324 the world's crisis. 

The same contrast is seen in the effect of this system upon the 
two ranks of the Middle class. It aggrandizes the princely mer- 
chants, manufacturers, and capitalists, who carry on the commerce 
of the world. But the great Mass of the Middle class, — -professional 
men who live by fees and salaries, merchants and tradesmen en- 
gaged in domestic traffic, the many living upon scanty incomes, — all 
feel the pressure of the enhanced cost of living, incident to the 
commercial system. So great is this pressure, that thousands of 
English are under the necessity of expatriating themselves and living 
abroad upon the Continent, where prices have not been exaggerated 
by a false industrial system beyond the limit of their resources. 

But it is the Working class which feel with the utmost intensity 
the pressure of this system. The Aristocratic and Middle classes 
are but a small part of the population of England. A few hundred 
thousand will comprise all who do not obtain a subsistence by per- 
sonal industry ; the industrious, or Working class number millions. 
Great Britain is an enormous hive of industry, in which busy mill- 
ions toil, hunger driven. — The classes above them only suffer from 
the enhanced cost of living ; the Working class is oppressed by a 
complication of causes, originating in the commercial centralization 
of Britain. 

The population of the British isles has been increased through 
this system of traffic, to a greater number than the wants of indus- 
try demand. Every department of industry and enterprise is 
over-crowded. There are more shopkeepers, more clerks, more 
mechanics, more operatives, more farm laborers, more city drudges 
of every kind, than can find employment. The demand for every 
kind of labor is glutted ; so that employers can fix wages at their 
own standard. 

And it is a necessary condition of the system of commercial cen- 
tralization that wages for every kind of labor shall be fixed at the 
very lowest rate. The system of foreign commerce compels a 
narrow economy, necessitating the oppression of all the laborers 
engaged in it ; the exactions of the nobility grind the farm laborers ; 
all laborers engaged in the internal industry of the country also feel 
the pressure of the system. The foreign commerce fixes the price 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 325 

of labor. The retail grocer will not give his porter higher wages 
than the importing merchant is offering. Moreover, the shopkeep- 
ers (as retail merchants of every kind are indiscriminately called in 
England), supplying the wants of hard-driven poverty, and vieing 
with each other in exciting competition for an overtasked trade, find 
their profits reduced to the lowest limit, and are compelled, in turn, 
to oppress all their employes. Thus, the oppression of poverty is 
universal. The employes of commerce, the employes of agriculture, 
the employes of all tradesmen, — are all oppressed. 

Skilled mechanics are the only moderately-well paid class of En- 
glish laborers. Being banded together under established regula- 
tions, they have been the better able to protect themselves against 
the oppression of capital. By repeated strikes, the better class of 
skilled workmen in founderies, etc., have secured established rates 
of wages averaging five or six dollars a week; which, with rigid 
economy, enables them to subsist in comparative comfort. These, 
with the petty shopkeepers and the higher class of clerks, constitute 
the aristocracy of the working class. They resort to every expe- 
dient, to maintain a position of semi-respectability. 

Below them are tho middle class of laborers. — First among these 
are the skilled craftsmen employed by manufacturers. They have 
maintained along struggle with their employers; the manufacturers 
wishing to establish wages at a standard barely sufficient to sustain 
life ; the operatives demanding a rate adequate to an humble style 
of comfort. The struggle led to repeated strikes, and ultimated in 
a compromise. Wages were fixed at a rate which, after supplying 
clothes and shelter, would afford about half enough to eat. The 
poor must have expedients of which the more fortunate are igno- 
rant ; for it seems impossible, at English prices for provisions, etc., 
to make an estimate of expenses by which the wages of operatives 
would suffice to subsist a family. — Ranked with these are a multitude 
of half-starved clerks. — The farm laborers are lower in the scale, 
receiving as regular wages eight shillings ($1.92) per week, with 
which sum they are expected to feed and clothe their families, and 
pay medical attendance in sickness. — With these are to be ranked 
the porters and regular employes of commerce, who systematically 
famish upon their regular wages. — Next, is the job laborer, who fasts 



326 the world's crisis. 

when he can get work, and starves when without. — Lower yet, is 
the shop girl, on duty fifteen hours a day, for a pittance inadequate 
to the supply of necessary wants — the seampstress, earning four 
shillings a week, slowly dying of overwork and privation — the ser- 
vant girl, to whom is doled a shilling a week, and an hour's holiday 
twice a month. — These are the Middle classes of the Working peo- 
ple ; for, though famishing, they have regular employment at stip- 
ulated wages. 

Below them, still, are other millions — without regular work, or 
home, or food — hopeless, starving, dying ; — literally dying — upon 
doorsteps where they have crowded for shelter — under hedges 
where they have lain down from the wind — upon heaps of ordure 
where they have groveled for the warmth derived from reeking ex- 
halations. The cities of England are crowded with this unhappy 
class of beings. They meet the eye upon every street — too nu- 
merous to attract attention or sympathy. 

The pining wretchedness of these millions has never found a 
voice. They die, and make no sign. Tourists who visit England 
are absorbed in seeing public buildings, and in noting the magnifi- 
cence of the great. English writers behold the prevalence of suf- 
fering with despairing indifference, and will not harrow their readers 
with descriptions of wretchedness they cannot alleviate. Dickens 
is an honorable exception to the general reticence. In partially 
sketched pictures, he gives us, in some of his works, glimpses of 
harrowing misery; and some time ago, he, in a graphic sketch, re- 
corded the despairing abandonment which met his eye in a midnight 
tour of observation through St. Giles. But the outside world knows 
little of the unparalleled wretchedness that exists in England. It 
is time it found a voice, that Philanthropy, as well as Prudence, may 
arm against a system which makes victims of the poor. 

But how shall the wretchedness of the English poor be described? 
Where begin ? With the homeless outcasts of the cities, perishing 
for want of employment? with the pining millions, hopeless, joyless, 
slowly famishing upon wages insufficient for subsistence? or with 
the aristocracy of labor, — the famine-pinched, hunger-driven Upper- 
tendom of English Want? 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 327 

Pinching want is not characteristic of the Working class alone. 
Decayed offshoots of the Aristocracy, and impoverished members 
of the Middle class, all famish alike. Hunger is an established 
British institution. Especial provision is made for famishing with 
decency. The social life of the country is established upon a basis 
carefully and wisely devised for the special purpose of enabling 
people to starve themselves in a respectable way. Boarding-houses 
are unknown in England. An English landlord is too poor to risk 
advances for food when he does not know that his inmates will be 
able to pay; and, on the other hand, people can generally afford so 
little to eat, they are ashamed to sit at a public table. Those who 
live on bread and water prefer to dine alone. To suit the con- 
venience and poverty of all parties, an ingenious system has been 
devised, which saves the landlord from risk, and enables the inmates 
of his house to starve in the most decent manner imaginable. 

The Lodging-house system of England is an institution which 
bears witness to the universal poverty. It has reduced economy to 
a science, and affords the highest degree of comfort and respec- 
tability, at the lowest possible expenditure. It is one of the 
peculiarities of English social life, and well merits a particular 
description. 

An individual in want of a home goes in quest of "lodgings." 
He selects an apartment suited to his means, for which he pays a 
stipulated weekly sum. The apartment is taken care of by the 
" landlady," whose duty it is, without additional charge, to cook and 
serve up in the lodger's apartment such food as he may purchase in 
the market. Or, if the lodger does not choose to become his own 
purveyor, upon his furnishing the money, the "landlady" is glad to 
undertake the office, from the opportunity the purchase presents for 
her favorite occupation, — petty pilfering. 

Lodging-houses are of various descriptions. Some are handsome 
residences three or four stories high, either built expressly as lodg- 
ing houses, or once tenanted by aristocratic families, which have 
left them as the city extended its limits. Others are neat two-story 
buildings, built for the occupancy of mechanics. Others, yet, are 
the low, dingy dwellings of the poor — the degraded poor. 



328 the world's crisis. 

If we take a glance at the inmates of the various classes of houses 
•which have a card in their windows inscribed in large letters, 
"Lodgings to let," we shall find the best class situated in a fashion- 
able quarter of the city, and kept, perhaps, by decayed offshoots of 
the aristocracy, who, compelled by poverty to forego the usages of 
caste, have rented a house to receive lodgers of the best class. 
These are occupied by persons of humble means, but respectable 
connections, to whom respectability is a prime essential ; and whose 
slender incomes, exhausted by the cost of lodgings and other neces- 
sary expenses, limit them to a sparing allowance of table comforts. 

In another quarter are handsome rows of houses, rented by trades- 
men whose business will not support their families, and enterprising 
clerks who are aspiring to a higher social position than their meager 
salaries will maintain. The best rooms of these houses are tenanted 
by persons of the Middle class, whose circumstances will not justify 
them in renting a house, and who are unwilling to lose their caste 
by becoming lodging-house keepers. Young tradesmen just start- 
ing in business, reduced tradesmen who are living economically 
upon the wreck of their fortunes, men of leisure enjoying life upon 
a moderate income, — these are the occupants of the better rooms ; 
while, in the third stories, are teachers, clerks, literary hacks — men 
of refined instincts and social pride, who prefer to stint themselves, 
in order to live in a respectable quarter. 

In another quarter, still, are neat two-story buildings rented by 
mechanics and others of the Working class, who manage to keep a 
spare room for lodgers. These are occupied by persons who prefer 
comfort to respectability; choosing prompt attention in the second 
story of a small house, in preference to neglect and discomfort in 
the third story of a large one. 

But the vast majority of the English population cannot afford the 
expense of neat rooms in decent houses. There are quarters where 
the poor congregate. Some of these crowded houses are occupied 
by various families, which huddle into rooms where each performs 
its household work. Others are occupied by lodgers who sleep in 
crowded rooms full of double beds, all occupied, with the privilege 
of eating their meals beside the kitchen fire. Others, still, are large 
buildings once occupied by traffic, and now converted into lodging 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 329 

houses, with immense rooms divided into sleeping compartments by 
board partitions six feet high. These are all respectable, for they 
contain beds; and mechanics, and laborers, and the worse paid clerks 
herd in them. 

There is yet another class of lodging-houses, — for vagabonds, and 
" tramps," as laborers out of employment are termed ; where, for 
two pence a night, Destitution sleeps promiscuously in the straw with 
which the floors are covered. 

To let lodgings is the chief resource of respectable poverty. De- 
cayed branches of the upper classes, too poor to subsist without 
some avocation, frequently find here the avenues by which to de- 
scend into the ranks of the Working class. But it is especially the 
resource of the more enterprising" members of the Working class, 
who seek it, not as an exclusive occupation, but as a means of eke- 
ing out a support otherwise too meager for respectability. The 
shop-keeper whose business is not sufficient to support his family, 
lets lodgings as a means of supplying the deficit. The clerk or 
mechanic who marries and goes into lodgings, finds his status thence- 
forth fixed; all his earnings are inadequate to a comfortable sub- 
sistence; respectability is beyond hope. The prudent clerk or me- 
chanic defers his marriage, until he has stinted and saved a few 
pounds sterling. He then selects a "notable" girl as his "part- 
ner," and they begin life by taking a house, and letting the best 
rooms to lodgers. 

He is now a member of the Working class aristocracy. His 
wages, together with the profits derived from lodgers, enable him to 
live in a style of homely comfort, to which the great body of his 
fellows cannot aspire; and, with the morbid sensitiveness to rank 
characteristic of the English mind, he exhibits a ridiculous vanity 
of superiority over the classes of laborers below him. Not a lord 
in the land prides himself more upon his social position, or more 
thoroughly contemns the degraded masses, than does the "respect- 
able " mechanic. Respectability is his idol. He attends church 
with unfailing regularity, and stints himself of actual necessaries, to 
provide the Sunday suit, with the high-crowned hat which is the 
badge of respectability. I think it is Hood w T ho distinguishes the 
various grades of English petty aristocracy into the six-penny, the 



330 the world's crisis. 

shilling, and the half crown aristocracy. The "respectable" me- 
chanic belongs to the six-penny aristocracy, and turns up his nose 
in utter contempt of the millions below him whose currency is cop- 
per. No sympathy has he with their sufferings. His only care is 
to maintain himself upon the insecure eminence upon which he 
stands. It is his only dread that some reverse of fortune may dis- 
lodge him, and precipitate him down among the masses whom he 
despises. 

It is pitiable to witness the hard expedients to which the most 
respectable class of English working people, — the petty shop- 
keepers, and the better class of clerks and mechanics — are com- 
pelled to resort, in order to maintain their precarious position. 

The first of these is grinding pinching economy. While they re- 
tain their health and find steady employment, they manage, with the 
help derived from keeping lodgers, to subsist in meager respecta- 
bility. But their gains are not sufficient for comfort. Every ex- 
pense is rigidly curtailed within strictly-defined limits. Food, es- 
pecially, which is the chief expense of living, is carefully limited to 
the income. The English working people, even those who are most 
comfortable, never have enough to eat. Many who cannot afford 
bread, content themselves with potatoes. But the aristocracy of the 
Working class do afford bread, though not enough to appease hun- 
ger. Bread with a little butter is the ordinary food, with perhaps 
a cup of weak tea. Meat is a luxury that can be afforded only 
once a week at the " Sunday Dinner ;" when, if the state of the ex- 
chequer will allow the extra expense, the addition of "pudden" 
exalts the working man to the bliss of the Mahometan Paradise. 

The poor man's Sunday Dinner ! It is the reward of virtue ! the 
blessed compensation for seven days of eager craving. Apicius 
never enjoyed such a meal; for it is served with Spartan sauce, 
— labor, and hunger. The Sunday Dinner ! It makes the poor 
man's Sabbath a longed-for day of bliss. It is a source of perpet- 
ual enjoyment! the center of existence, to which Memory and Hope 
continually point ! the Luminary round which all the thoughts re- 
volve ! Its pleasure lingers on the palate till Monday night, and 
the laborer rises on Tuesday morning, to revel in pleasing anticipa- 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 331 

tion of the next delicious feast. He is happier each succeeding day 
as Sunday approaches, and his bliss rises to ecstasy as he wends his 
way from church, with eager steps, homeward, where the Sunday 
dinner sits smoking on the hob, ready to be transferred to the little 
table neatly spread against the kitchen wall. 

The Sunday dinner ! No careless cook ever prepared for the 
jaded palate of aristocrat banquet so delicious ! There is poetry — 
music, in the taste, as the exquisite viands melt upon the tongue, 
and thrill the palate to ecstasy ! 

The preparation of the Sunday Dinner is the one sole accomplish- 
ment of the rustic beauty — the essential preparation for marriage, 
without which matrimony were hopeless. It is the chief attraction 
to the rustic swain — the one point upon which his mind must be at 
rest before he will commit himself. Without it, beauty is unvalued, 
and amiability is worthless. Excellence, here, atones for a multi- 
tude of defects, as remissness constitutes an unpardonable fault. 
Love and skill vie in its preparation. The good wife makes this the 
testimonial of attachment, the expiation of peccancy; and all bick- 
erings are absolved, all resentments forgotten in the ecstasy of the 
Sunday Dinner ! 

To refuse to cook a Sunday dinner is the keenest blow conjugal 
malice can inflict. An Englishman was cited by his wife before a 
magistrate for venting anger in blows. He defended himself with 
indignant warmth. She had proved a virago for years ; he endured 
it patiently. She had latterly taken to drink ; his equanimity re- 
mained unshaken. He suspected her of infidelity; and meekly 
hushed his sorrows in the silence of his heart. At length, she re- 
fused to cook his Sunday Dinner; — and — forbearance could no more ! 
The court and public, in sympathy with his unendurable grievance, 
acquitted him of blame. 

The Sunday Dinner is the poor Englishman's highest conception 
of bliss. His idea of Heaven is an endless Sabbath, with a constant 
succession of Sunday Dinners, and plenty on the table. The noon- 
tide of glory does not strike his imagination : the sun lights him to 
his labor ; the day is associated in his mind with famine and drudg- 
ery; he loves the night, for it brings his only forgetfulness of hun- 



332 

ger, his only relaxation from toil. To his mind Heaven is Heaven, 
because it is rest, and there is no hunger there. 

Another resource of the better class of English laborers is the 
system of mutual insurance. 

The state of society in England has rendered the system of insur- 
ance general. The nobleman in receipt of a large income, which 
will enable him, by the accumulation of years, to portion his younger 
children, sets apart an annual sum for life insurance, which will 
yield them some provision in the event of his untimely death. All 
in the receipt of fixed salaries endeavor to make similar provision 
for their families. 

Life insurance is a luxury too great for the limited resources of 
the laboring class. Their pinched means, barely sufficient for sub- 
sistence, will not admit of the payment of a life-insurance policy. 
The cares of the industrious mechanic do not extend to provision 
for his family after his death. He is willing to trust his wife and 
children to Providence. His dread is to fall while yet alive into the 
pauper class below him. His health is his only capital. To guard 
against the disastrous consequences of a fit of sickness, the better 
class of Working men have formed mutual insurance societies, to 
which each pays a weekly stipend of sixpence ; receiving from it 
in case of sickness ten shillings a week — a sum sufficient for sub- 
sistence. 

The provident working man has to provide against another source 
of danger to his position. English pride exacts handsome obsequies 
for the dead. Custom establishes the expenditure required by re- 
spectability of the several classes of society. The expense of a 
"third class burial" is far beyond the means of a mechanic. The 
cost of decent interment for a member of his family would oppress 
him with debt for years. To meet an expense which respectability 
demands, the Working class have organized Burial Societies, which, 
in consideration of a small weekly payment, engage, in case of death, 
to pay a sum sufficient to defray the funeral expenses. The first 
duty of a prudent shopkeeper, or clerk, or mechanic, upon his mar- 
riage, is to enter his own, and the name of his wife, upon the list of 
a burial club. Each child at its birth is successively registered. 



OPPRESSION OP POVERTY. 333 

An agent conies round every week to collect sixpence, each, burial 
money for the husband and wife, and two pence for each child ; — a 
liideous memento mori, but one, to which the Working class of En- 
glishmen are habituated by custom. 

Another custom indicative of the general poverty prevails. 
Strolling through a cemetery near London, the writer observed 
wagons engaged in hauling away earth, excavated from some new- 
made graves. His curiosity being excited, he made inquiry of the 
sexton, who gave some curious information respecting the burial 
customs of the country. A family purchases in a cemetery, not a 
lot, but a family grave. This is excavated from fifteen to twenty 
feet deep, to receive its first occupant ; and at each succeeding death 
the grave is re-opened, and the bodies are successively deposited, 
one above another, until the family is extinct, or the grave is filled. 
The arrangement is found economical in several particulars : labor 
in England is cheaper than land ; and a single handsome column is 
sufficient to mark the resting-place, and contain the names, and an 
economical eulogy, of every member of the family. 

As to those who have third class burials, a more summary process 
prevails. The grave is ready dug — generally sixteen feet deep, — 
and the earth is removed from the cemetery ; the grave remaining 
open, until it is full of coffins brought indiscriminately for interment. 
Its unsightliness is concealed by a handsome monument made of 
boards and sanded in imitation of marble. This is removed for 
each new interment until the grave is almost full ; it is then filled 
up with earth, and left without a headstone, and the plank monu- 
ment is removed, to garnish a new tomb which yawns for its miscel- 
laneous occupants. 

Other instances of economy are seen in the manner in which lux- 
uries are obtained. The expense of a copy of a newspaper will be 
shared between half a dozen parties. A gentleman receives the 
London Ti?nes, and reads it at the breakfast table — the servant 
passes it to a shop-keeper after breakfast — who hands it over to a 
restaurant in time for the dinner hour — to be next passed to an 
afternoon club-room — whence it finally passes to a working-man's 
evening reading-room, to be conned by mechanics and laborers. 



334 THE 

Still another instance of economy is exhibited by the numerous 
old maids, in providing subsistence for their pets. In a country like 
England, marriage is a luxury which many persons of small means- 
sufficient for one, not enough for two — must forego. Old maids are 
numerous, and they have the usual number of pet dogs and cats, 
upon which to lavish their exuberant affections. But to feed a pet 
with a hearty appetite is an expense which a respectable maiden 
lady with scanty means, barely sufficient for a respectable subsist- 
ence, can ill afford. Where every penny has to be counted and 
msnaj a comfortable meal foregone, to lay aside the pittance for a 
rainy day, and the sum necessary for decent burial, the quantity 
that a lap-dog or pet cat will eat is a serious expense. Milk can- 
not be obtained in sufficient purity to be made an article of diet; 
beef, or mutton cannot be afforded. The dilemma has given rise to 
a distinct business in the large cities. Persons make it their busi- 
ness to prepare the flesh of dead horses, which they sell at a cheap 
rate, as "cats' and dogs' meat." A stranger beholding the sign of 
one of these purveyors, — "Cats' and dogs' meat. for sale here" — is 
at first impressed with the extreme destitution of the English poor, 
which reduces them to live on such food; and he is much relieved 
when he learns that it is horse flesh for sale, as food for the pets of 
economical families. 

The extreme poverty of the better portion of the Working class 
is not manifest in economy and privation, only. Petty pilfering is 
universal. 

The dairyman mixes lard with his butter, and drugs his milk to 
make it hold in solution a greater quantity of chalk and water. — 
The baker mingles alum with his flour, to make it hold more water ; 
and he mixes sawdust with his unbolted flour, and chalk with his 
white, and increases the weight of his loaf with a liberal sprinkling 
of sand. — The butcher is so unfortunate as to be unable to adulterate 
his meat; but, selling it in small quantities, he indemnifies him- 
self by a dextrous manipulation of the scales, which enables him to 
cheat his customers out of an ounce in the pound. — But the shop- 
keeper who retails groceries by the pennyworth is the prince of 
petty thieves. He adulterates his sugar with sand and sawdust, 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 335 

dilutes his molasses with water, and mixes lard with his butter until 
hardly a vestige of the lacteal taste remains. He sells his coffee 
in a ground state to facilitate its adulteration ; for which purpose he 
parches and grinds acorns, and has a standing engagement with all 
the servant girls in the neighborhood to save coffee-grounds for his 
shop. Similar engagements are kept for drawn tea leaves. Besides 
manifold adulterations, he cheats in weight. His coffee, tea, and 
sugar, are kept made up in small parcels, which are always system- 
atically light.— But of all petty thieves in England, the landladies 
are the most persistent and annoying. They all steal. Their lodg- 
ers' provisions and supplies of every kind pay systematic toll. They 
every day steal a little sugar, a little tea or coffee, a slice or two of 
bread, and, in winter, a few lumps of coal. The minuteness of the 
theft shows the destitution which prompts it. There are two com- 
forts an Englishman never finds, — a chimney that do n't smoke, and 
a landlady that do n't steal. 

An English lady was lauding the piety of her countrymen in con- 
versation with the author. " Pious !" he cried in astonishment, " do n't 
the tradesmen all cheat, and the landladies all pilfer ! are they not 
members of your churches ?" " Oh yes," she replied, with an in- 
genuous blush, " but that is the custom of the country, Sir !" 

But neither privation, nor every expedient to which Poverty can 
resort, can always shelter the English mechanic from the fate he 
dreads. Every branch of industry is overcrowded. Thousands of 
mechanics, and clerks, and laborers, are continually out of employ- 
ment. A fit of sickness throws the working man out of employment, 
and he finds upon his recovery, that his place has been supplied. 
The other shops and factories are all full. In the hope of obtaining 
work he remains in the city, subsisting on the sums obtained from 
pawnbrokers upon his furniture and clothing. These at last are 
exhausted, and the unfortunate is driven to the alternative of star- 
vation, suicide, or going "on tramp." Many, weary and disheart- 
ened with the sore struggle of life, choose suicide as the shortest 
way " to make an end on 't." Others, utterly hopeless, shut 
themselves and their families up in their lodgings, to perish of hun- 
ger. Where life is so beset with hardships it gradually loses its 



336 the world's crisis. 

value, and to many of the better class of laboring Englishmen death 
has fewer horrors than the life of the wretched thousands who exist 
immediately below them in the social scale. 

The greater number, however, hang on to life with tenacity. 
They set out on tramp in search of work. England is full of these 
" tramps." They beg a lunch at farm-houses, and, by applying to 
the proper authorities, they are entitled to a loaf of bread at night 
and shelter in the poor-house. But these houses are frequently full 
to overflowing, and then the " tramp " must lie in the street exposed 
to the inclemency of the elements. If unsuccessful in obtaining 
employment, a few weeks of such experience eradicate the last 
remnant of self-respect. He continues mechanically to apply for 
work, but he soon loses the energy necessary to persistent industry, 
and his appearance becomes so shabby as to deter any one from 
offering him employment. He sinks, step by step, until he becomes 
a " tramp " by profession, wandering from place to place, begging 
of farm-houses, subsisting on public charity, sleeping under hedges 
or in the streets when lodging in a station-house cannot be had. 
He at last becomes merged in the myriads who people the cities, 
living as they best can, begging, working, stealing, until at last 
death closes the scene. 

If such is the hard experience of the Aristocracy of labor, what 
is the condition of those below them, whose wages are inadequate 
to the means of subsistence ? 

What is the condition of the farm laborer toiling for eight shillings 
a week ? of the city operatives, engaged in the various avocations of 
traffic and productive industry, whose wages average only ten shil- 
lings a week ? Language cannot depict the destitution that exists 
among the masses of the laboring class in England. Their wages 
are wretchedly inadequate to their wants. If the mechanic earning 
thirty shillings per week is under the necessity of exercising pinching 
economy, how deep the destitution of those who only earn one-third 
that sum ! 

And worse still what is the condition of the widows and orphans 
whose husbands and fathers have fallen in the bitter struggle with 
life! 



OPPRESSION OP POVERTY. 337 

There are thousands of sewing girls whose wages average only 
four shillings a week. How they manage to subsist, is a problem 
we have never been able to solve. That the solution involves fright- 
ful suffering is beyond question. They are fortunate, however, for 
they endure their privations alone. But when the sempstress is a 
mother, and the wages insufficient for one must be divided to support 
famishing children — then ensues a scene of suffering at which hu- 
manity shudders. Some of these widows, inspired with maternal 
affection, resolve to keep their children around them at every sac- 
rifice, and bravely set about the only work open to them, — sewing 
for shops. The family gradually sinks lower in destitution. Little 
articles, the purchases of happier years, gradually disappear to the 
pawnbrokers, whence they are never redeemed. Affection continues 
bravely to struggle against destiny, but in vain. Those are fortu- 
nate whom heart-weariness, and anxiety, and destitution, quickly 
relieve of the burden of life ; though death is embittered with a 
pang not its own, in the consciousness that the tender ones loved so 
dearly are left to blight and wither amid the neglect and unkindness 
of this cold w r orld. Others live on — live to see their children pining 
round them with cold and hunger — to behold them becoming slowly 
brutalized by the circumstances of their lot — to perceive the soft 
beautiful lines of youth changing into the pinched look of want, the 
gentle eye glassing into the wild stare of famine, the little forms 
once so lovely begrimed with dirt that poverty has no time to wash 
away, and clad in rags which industry vainly strives to renew. The 
heart grows sick at last. Its tender affections, once a source of 
joy, now only thrill it with anguish. The sight of those beloved 
ones so changed racks the soul with agony akin to that with which 
we look upon our dead ; and at last Hope dies in the heart, and 
Despair sits sullenly brooding over its grave. We bury our dead 
out of our sight; and the despairing, widowed mother slowly recon- 
ciles herself to the thought which, day by day, grows more vivid, 
that she must put these children away from her. Destiny — dark 
Destiny, against which we all struggle so fiercely, but which conquers 
us at last — triumphs ; and she yields her children to the parish 
authorities, to be bound to years of harsh slavery — to become the 
drudges of Poverty, the starved minions of Want. 
22 



338 THE world's crisis. 

Henceforth the quiet of her little room becomes unendurable to 
the bereaved spirit. The floors still echo the patterings of little 
feet, the walls are vocal with infantile voices. Solitude is peopled 
with thoughts of her lost children. Memory haunts her deso- 
lation, and she must fly to active life from the specters of the past. 
But whither ? What resource, if the needle, the stay of the desti- 
tute, be abandoned? None for respectability; but what is respecta- 
bility now, when the heart is crushed, the life desolate ! Misery 
has no deeper gulf. For what shall she struggle — what strive to 
save, who has lost her all ! Self-respect has gone down with hope. 
The world and its opinion are nothing to her, now : it stood by un- 
pitying, and witnessed her hard struggle ; it beheld with cold in- 
difference the sacrifice of her children ; and now she can scorn its 
idle blame, and trample its opinions with the defiant hate of a spirit 
stung by sorrow almost to madness. Henceforth busy life is her 
place ; the bustle of the street may drown the voices of the Past. 
Hard toil is her choice — for toil is not so bitter as regret. We see 
these thrice-childless widows abroad on the streets, engaged in every 
department of labor, with faces from which the light has faded out, 
replaced by a hopeless aspect of sullen stoicism and defiant endur- 
ance. They are milk-women traversing the streets with a wooden 
beam across their shoulders, from which their milk-cans are sus- 
pended. They are peddlers of fruit or vegetables, squatted in the 
streets, exposed to cold and heat and storm, and seemingly indiffer- 
ent to all, while they vociferously cry their wares, and in fierce 
competition with each other entreat the passing crowd to buy. They 
are — what are they not ! Why trace the thousand ways in which 
Wretchedness struggles to support a loathed life ! 

Their condition is not peculiar. There is nothing to distinguish 
them among the thousands of suffering mortals, all as wretched as 
they. The myriads of city laborers receiving little better wages 
than the starving sempstresses have families who shiver and starve 
as well as theirs. Their lives are as full of misery and debasement. 

Why draw a picture of isolated suffering ! why single out one 
object from the millions equally poor, equally wretched! 

How these multitudes live none can say. Their wages seem in- 
adequate to subsistence. But poverty has its hard expedients un- 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 339 

known to the happy. They do live — until want and squalor generate 
disease, and then they are held to die in the course of nature. Cor- 
oners sit every week upon cases of death from sheer starvation. 
Bat generally spent Nature continues its efforts to the last, until 
exposure becomes the auxiliary of hunger, and a slight cold, which 
vigorous life would not feel, exhausts the vitality, and the creature 
dies — by the visitation of God ! A gray head is rarely seen among 
these hunger-pinched children of Want. They die before their 
time^ Nature fails outwearied, before toil and hardship can blanch 
the hair ! 

These are the Middle Class of English labor. What, then, the 
state of the "dregs of society," — the millions lower still in the social 
scale, without steady employment, who do not know from day to 
day where subsistence may be obtained ! It is needless to attempt 
to note the expedients by which they support a precarious exist- 
ence; and equally vain the attempt to depict their harrowing 
wretchedness. 

Some work when they can find employment, and famish when 
without. Then, there are street vendors who depend for subsist- 
ence upon selling fruits and vegetables to passers by. Of this 
class there are thirty thousand in London, alone. It is said that 
three days of consecutive rain would reduce the poor creatures to 
starvation. Then there are gatherers of rags and old clothes, 
groaning forth their melancholy cry as they tread their daily round. 
There are the night-wandering laborers, — chiffoniers — scavengers — 
gatherers of ordure, old iron, bones, and various miscellaneous arti- 
cles from the streets, which may be disposed of for a penny. There 
are degraded chimney sweeps ; and sweepers of crossings, the only 
privileged beggars in the land. 

But there are, besides, beggars many, unprivileged save by the 
general commission of Want, numerous as wretched, and persistent 
beyond belief where the police is not near. Mothers teach their 
children to beg, under the penalty of whipping and starvation if un- 
successful. Upon cold winter nights, little boys will lie for hours 
upon the sidewalk, well repaid by a penny from some charitable 
passer-by. Little girls whose applications are unsuccessful, as ten 



340 

o'clock approaches and passers are few, set up a piteous wail too 
heartfelt to be simulated : " Mother has shut them out in the cold, 
and they dare not go home without a penny." A laborer lies down 
upon the sidewalk in mute appeal, holding his spade in his hand, on 
which is written, " Hunger compels me." Men, women, children, 
stand in the streets singing sad songs, to invoke the charity of the 
benevolent. In bitter cold nights these entreating songs are con- 
stantly ringing on the ear; the suppliants standing ragged and 
barefoot, destitute of everything, food, clothing, and shelter. 

Degraded poverty is present in all its avocations. 

Misery presents itself in all its multiform aspects. The streets 
are crowded with hopeless dejected faces, which no one regards. 
Famine withered wretches are constantly to be seen, gazing with 
longing eyes upon the meat-stalls and baker shops. — But why ex- 
hibit the imbecility of language, by attempting to convey an idea of 
the inexpressible, inconceivable suffering that everywhere exists. 
Poverty, Want, Misery, Desolation, are everywhere. Haggard, 
hopeless, hunger-pinched faces, sullen, despairing eyes, are every- 
where. All are wretched — the employed ravenous with hunger, the 
unemployed desperate with privation. 

If the sufferers were few, Charity would fly to their relief. But 
they are too numerous : the mass of the British population are pin- 
ing in indigence ; and Benevolence turns from the spectacle in 
despair. Penury in every stage of want and suffering meets the 
eye, until it grows habituated to scenes of wretchedness, and habit 
renders the mind indifferent to misery it cannot relieve. The 
wealthy English are, many of them, by nature benevolent. Indeed, 
they claim to be, par excellence, the philanthropists of the age. The 
wretched, everywhere, elicit their sympathy. But the wretchedness 
at home is too general, and too hopeless of relief, and they try to 
shut their eyes to its existence. The only emotion misery seems to 
cause is annoyance at its obtruding upon their attention, and claim- 
ing a sympathy which, if extended, would mar their own enjoyment 
without benefiting its objects. In England, he who allows the sight 
of heart-rending misery to excite his emotions, must die. Callous 
indifference is the only refuge. 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 341 

An aristocratic London paper gave utterance to the prevailing 
feeling, in an article of eloquent and pathetic remonstrance. It is 
wrong, it said, in Poverty to thrust its misery upon the gaze of Re- 
spectability ! Upon sunny days, homeless Beggary left its dens, to 
bask in the cheering light of day. Sickly Want sometimes crawled 
from its festering alleys into the open parks, to court the fresh 
breeze which fans the fevered beggar as well as the prince. And 
the aristocratic journal complained ! The Wretched, it said, owe it 
to decency to hide themselves from the public gaze! It cited with 
admiration the patriotic pride of their progenitors, who, when Alex- 
ander, Czar of Russia, visited England, from regard to the credit 
of their country, kept themselves so entirely aloof from the distin- 
guished visitor that he asked in wonder, " Where are your poor?" 
But, now, the Wretched were everywhere obtruding themselves upon 
the public eye. Invalid ladies could not go into the parks but such 
harrowing misery met their sight as shocked their delicate nerves, 
and endangered their health. The Wretched had no right thus to 
mar the happiness of their betters, by compelling them to behold 
their misery! A proper consideration for the feelings of the rich 
should prompt them to hide distress so painful to behold ! They 
ought to have benevolence enough to die in their dens, without dis- 
turbing the enjoyment of the happy ! 

The same desire to shut out the sight of wretchedness causes the 
gentry to wall in their grounds, and have a lodge-keeper at the outer 
gate, to prevent the admittance of every object that could appeal to 
their compassion. Lazarus could once get to the door of Dives, but 
now a high wall shuts him out from compassion and relief! 

The British government, so far from endeavoring to alleviate the 
sufferings of the Working class, with an eye to the increase of the 
revenue, stimulates their vices, and becomes a party to their oppres- 
sion. It collects a large part of the public revenue from taxes laid 
indirectly upon the poor. It encourages drunkenness systemati- 
cally, on account of the revenue derived from the licenses of publi- 
cans ; and gives orders to the police not to interfere with the dis- 
orderly crowds who infest the street corners in various stages of 
intoxication, lest they should be prevented from drinking, to the loss 
of the national excise. 



342 the world's crisis. 

The government has also licensed pawnbrokers' shops, ostensibly 
for the purpose of devising a system of credit for the poor, but 
really for the sake of the revenue derived from their licenses. The 
pawnbroker is a harpy, licensed to victimize the poor, and the gov- 
ernment shares his iniquitous gains. He is authorized to exact 
usurious interest, and he usually advances about one-sixth of the 
value of the article left in pledge. The door of his shop is to many 
the entrance of the avenue to ruin. A visit to the pawnbroker's is 
the indication of extreme necessity. Usually the pressure of neces- 
sity continues to increase, and in the end the articles left are for- 
feited through inability to redeem them. 

The multitude of these shops in every city is evidence of the uni- 
versal pressure of poverty. In quarters inhabited by the poor, the 
three golden balls, the pawnbroker's sign, are never out of sight. 
These dens of avarice and oppression are always crowded with ap- 
plicants who are waging an unequal struggle with Want. Many 
families struggling to maintain respectability regularly pledge their 
Sunday wardrobe on Monday morning, to be redeemed from the 
week's wages, on Saturday night. If sickness has been the cause of 
the necessity, some months of economy may finally redeem the 
pledge ; but, usually, the pressure of want continues to increase, 
until the struggle to maintain decent appearances is perforce relin- 
quished, and the family, abandoning its pledges to the pawnbroker, 
sinks to the humbler level better comporting with its means. As 
increasing families multiply expenses, many such struggles are wit- 
nessed, ending in defeat at last. Many resort to the pawnbroker 
to prolong the struggle for respectability ; many, the struggle for 
existence. When the week's earnings leave a deficit, article after 
article disappears from its accustomed place. At length nothing is 
left. The struggle is over at last. The battle of life is lost. The 
slavery of the poor-house, beggary, starvation, or suicide, are the 
bitter alternatives left. 

But it must not be supposed that no efforts are made to relieve 
the destitution of the Working class. English philanthropy is con- 
stantly engaged upon this object. The attempts at relief would 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 343 

seem respectable were they not so utterly inadequate to meet the 
overwhelming destitution. 

The poor-law system provides for all who are incapable of self- 
support. Upon application to the authorities, such persons are re- 
turned to their native parish and provided for in the poor-house. 
But the cruelty of the system that prevails in these houses renders 
any alternative preferable. Families are divided upon their en- 
trance — the husband, the wife, the children, being carried to different 
departments. Tasks suited to, or surpassing their strength are al- 
lotted to each, and strict obedience is enforced by the arbitrary rule 
of the overseer. The terrors of this degrading system are so im- 
pressed upon the minds of the English poor, that they usually prefer 
even death. They prefer to drag on, starving upon wages that 
excite wonder how they can maintain life ; and not unfrequently, 
when the struggle has ended in defeat, and they can hold up no 
longer, they choose suicide or starvation rather than the poor- 
house. 

Public charity affords no partial relief to the destitute poor. It 
gives a limited amount of relief to the homeless poor in search of 
employment. A crust of bread and a night's shelter are given upon 
application to the relieving officer, as long as the station houses will 
contain the applicants. But the employed laborer can obtain no 
relief. He who earns sufficient for subsistence lacking one or two 
shillings a week must slowly perish of privation. None can obtain 
public charity but the utterly destitute, without work, or home, or 
bread. 

Private charity, also, has extended its aid for the relief of destitu- 
tion. Soup houses have in some places been established, where a 
very limited supply of cheap soup is occasionally distributed to 
hungry applicants. In some manufacturing cities, an establish- 
ment has been opened, where cheap meals are served up to hungry 
"tramps" in search of employment, at the cost of the provisions. 
In London, one enterprising individual, by combining a butcher- 
stall and bakery with his restaurant, has afforded to the laboring 
poor substantial meals at an unprecedented rate of cheapness ; and 
the event was reckoned of sufficient importance to be noticed by 
Lord Brougham in the House of Lords, and to inspire a leader in 



344 the world's crisis. 

the London Times. Charity has established hospitals where the sick 
poor may attend, and obtain medical advice and necessary medicines 
at a penny a visit. — But all these efforts to mitigate the sufferings 
of the poor are only an acknowledgment of the destitution they fail 
to relieve. 

The necessary result of the wretchedness of the masses of the 
English population is social, and moral degradation. 

The social degradation of the mass of English working people is, 
to an American, if possible, even more painful than their privations. 
The mechanic, protected by his craft association, feels something of 
a sturdy independence. He can maintain himself against the op- 
pression of capital. But all others of the Working class are com- 
pletely at the mercy of their employers. None can obtain em- 
ployment unless they come recommended from their last situation. 
The character of a servant is at the caprice of the employer, who 
by turning them away " without a character," can consign them to 
starvation, or the privations of vagabond life. Under such circum- 
stances, the evils of oppression are superadded to the hardships of 
want. Ill humor, and caprice, and injustice, must be endured with- 
out complaint. Poverty is the tyrant that binds them beneath a 
yoke of servitude harder than that of the African slave. It is not 
merely a personal chastisement whose smart is soon forgotten, the 
employer can inflict. The future life, its hopes, its direst dread, are 
in his hands. It is the power of life and death, of misery, of de- 
spair, Capital holds over Poverty. 

We are no admirer of feudal subordination. But the condition 
of the English laborer has sadly retrograded since the day when the 
feudal retainer held his little glebe of land, of which Power could 
not dispossess him — when he followed the banner of his lord in war, 
and fed in his hall in peace — when he could find shelter beneath the 
strong arm of his superior, and repay sympathy and kindness, by 
affection and loyal devotion to the person of his chief. In being 
released from feudal dependence, he has become the bondsman of 
Poverty. Want drives him to a harder labor than his ancestors 
ever knew, which repays him with destitution and famine. An 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 345 

attempt to throw off the taskmaster's yoke achieves liberty — to 
starve. 

In England, the evidences of class subordination are every where 
present. Working people are treated as beings of a different race. 
Young bloods sport a "tiger," whose duty it is to receive an occa- 
sional flogging with cheerfulness, and, at the risk of his limbs, to 
leap from the carriage in full tilt and seize the horse by the reins 
before it stops. Cabs are so constructed as to enable the driver to 
sit behind, that he may not interpose his person between his master 
and the wind. Working people are used in services for which 
beasts of burden are elsewhere employed. A lady wishing to take 
an airing in the park mounts her diminutive carriage, and converts 
a footman into a pony for the occasion. Men and women with yokes 
on their necks stagger along the streets beneath the burden of 
twenty gallons of milk. Porters are extensively substituted for 
drays, on the score of economy ; it being cheaper to starve a man, 
than to feed a horse. 

We are not surprised that subordination is a natural element of 
character among the laboring class in England. Their souls are in 
subjection to the ranks above them. A working man never ad- 
dresses his superior except with the utmost deference and humility. 
"Master," is the universal term by which an employer is addressed 
or mentioned. If a man or woman asks or replies to a question on 
the street, "Master" is the universal style of address used to a 
superior. 

Where the will of one class is absolutely subjected to another, it 
is slavery, whether the fetters which bind the bondsman are con- 
structed by legal enactment, or are welded by Necessity. The 
bondage in which Necessity binds man is more grievous than slavery 
established by law ; for it does not apply its coercion to the body, 
but rivets its fetters on the soul. 

The moral condition of the English poor is even worse than their 
social state. 

Cheating and petty pilfering, as we have seen, are universal. 

Drunkenness, under the patronage of government, and amid the 
frightful prevalence of misery, is almost universal among the lower 



346 the world's crisis. 

orders of both sexes. Its only limit is the poverty which restrains 
the purchase of liquors. The unhappy creatures declare that the 
use of intoxicating liquors is essential to their existence. Perhaps 
a temporary forgetfulness of their misery is necessary to enable 
them to bear up beneath the weary burden of life. A part of the 
week's scanty wages is always spent, on Sabbath, in carousal, when 
crowds of intoxicated creatures block the streets about the ale- 
houses. The police have orders not to interfere, unless there is a 
breach of the peace, or riotous disorder. The pugnacity incident 
to intoxication, thus restrained in public, finds vent in family brawls 
where, in the privacy of home, husband and wife work off their ex- 
citement in mutual conflict. 

Crime is rapidly on the increase. The weekly press teems to 
disgust with accounts of murders, suicides, and incidents of vice too 
shocking to pollute these pages. Order is only maintained by the 
strong repression of the police, who, in immense numbers, con- 
stantly patrol both town and country. Seven thousand police- 
men are constantly on guard in the streets of London, alone. 
With their uniform they resemble a military force, constantly on the 
watch to repress the lawlessness and crime of the millions debased 
by want. 

The irreligion that prevails among the lower orders indicates even 
greater moral depravation than the vice and crime which break out 
despite the repression of power. 

The great mass of English population are practically heathen. 
The sense of injustice prevents many of them from desiring to 
receive any instruction from a class whom they regard as their op- 
pressors. They are taught that their sufferings are the will of God 
— that they must submit to them as the dispensation of divine Provi- 
dence ; and they reject teachings which make God the author of 
evil, and tax upon Providence the wrongs society inflicts upon man. 
Many fly to Atheism, and deny that there is a God ; " for would not 
a just God," say they, " avenge the oppression of the great, and the 
intolerable sufferings of the needy?" Many reject Christianity, 
because it is the religion of their oppressors, and because it is 
claimed as the foundation of the social system that is grinding them 
to powder. They fly in bitterness of spirit to infidelity; they em- 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 347 

brace with eager longing any new system which claims that Chris- 
tianity is obsolete, and must give place to a new and better era. 
The reveries of Swedenborgianism, the muttering predictions of 
Spiritualism, the rhapsodical absurdities of Mormonism, — all find 
eager votaries, hopeless of the present, and ready to rush into any 
novelty that gives promise of a Better Time. 

This is the condition of many not too debased for thought. But 
the great mass are so sunk in ignorance, so degraded by utter desti- 
tution, that their moral elevation seems hopeless. The farm labor- 
ers who rear their families upon less than two dollars a week, never 
approach a church. They cannot afford decent apparel; besides, 
the "Parson" is usually the justice of the peace who visits the pen- 
alties of the law upon their delinquencies, and they have little taste 
for "his Worship's" religious ministrations. Ignorance, apathy, 
and the brooding consciousness of misery half mingled with a sense 
of injustice, combine to keep them aloof from religious instruction. 
They want bread; to offer the Gospel, instead, seems to them a 
solemn mockery. 

A committee of a benevolent organization recently examined some 
farm laborers in a rural district of England, and to their horror 
found them utter heathen. One had never heard of a God ! 
Another, in response to a question, answered that he did not know 
that he had a soul ! nor had he ever heard of a future state ! A 
third had never heard the name of Jesus Christ ! A fourth said he 
believed he had heard something of the devil, and thought he was a 
very good sort of person! None among the number had ever re- 
ceived the least religious instruction. They were brutal savages in 
the midst of an enlightened country — their dull faculties conscious 
of nothing but the pangs of want — knowing civilization only in its 
power — realizing nothing of wealth but its oppression. 

The moral condition of the great mass of city life is even more 
debased, as their sufferings and temptations are greater. The farm 
laborer has, at least, the certainty of the pittance on which his 
family famishes, and he is shielded by the circumstances that envi- 
ron him, from temptation to flagrant vice. But the millions of city 
life undergo greater suffering, and are exposed to greater tempta- 
tions. Their faculties are stimulated into activity by constant con- 



348 

tact with busy life, and they have a more acute consciousness of the 
miseries of their condition, from its contrast with the abundance 
and the luxury constantly before their gaze. Millions pining with 
hunger pass every day by stalls loaded with luxuries they can never 
taste. Beggary jostles Wealth upon the crowded streets. House- 
less Want crouches shivering at night upon the steps of palaces 
where Luxury holds its carnival. 

The country peasantry are contented, and comparatively virtuous ; 
for they are not tempted by the sight of food better than their 
homely fare, and their lowly sphere is protected by its very debase- 
ment from the seductions of gilded vice. The denizens of the cities 
are victims of fierce longings — fiercer for their hopelessness ; and 
they rush eagerly into vice as the only vent to tumultuous passions 
— the only transition from the dull routine of endurance and suffer- 
ing. The better class of mechanics and clerks are generally attend- 
ants at church — it is part of the respectability they affect; but the 
millions below them are a reeking mass of destitution, heathenism, 
and vice. 

No attempts are made to remedy the moral destitution of the 
country laborers ; their case is yielded as hopeless. Some pious 
lady may distribute a few tracts to persons who cannot read — and 
here effort ends. 

The efforts made in cities are only a tribute to the necessity of 
effort. Salaried lecturers, now and then, address a few of the poor 
people assembled in their humble Lyceums, upon scientific and social 
topics — amuse them with the wonders of a camera obscura — astonish 
and puzzle them with illustrations of astronomical, or geographical 
facts — or inflict dissertations upon the evils of vices they have not 
the means to indulge. Tracts are indiscriminately distributed ; and 
street preachers, emulous of the example of Whitefield, without his 
zeal and earnestness, drone aw r ay on Sunday evenings to throngs of 
strollers, upon the blessings of virtue. 

These street exhibitions are well meant, and w r ould be entitled to 
respect, if their inefficiency were not contemptibly ridiculous. These 
evangelists always run in couples, — usually a young licentiate, or an 
ambitious, self-important exhorter, accompanied by a pious deacon. 



OPPRESSION OF POVERTY. 349 

Having selected some spot on the street where there is less noise 
than usual, or where a vacant building spot affords room for the 
possible congregation to gather, they take off their hats, and sing a 
hymn; — the inattentive stream of humanity, meanwhile, drifting by 
in contemptuous indifference. The leader next prays; — his voice 
almost drowned amid the rattle of wheels, and the echoing footsteps 
of the drifting throng. At the close of the prayer, perhaps a dozen 
loiterers, who think a street preacher as entertaining a sight as can 
occupy a few minutes, have paused in their evening stroll. The 
preacher begins his discourse in a discursive way: in a few minutes 
his first auditors are tired, and pass on — but other curious gazers 
are loitering in their stead : the preacher protracts his exhortations 
some ten or fifteen minutes, during which time his transient auditory 
of loiterers has changed about once a minute, continually growing 
smaller, until, at length, everybody is satisfied and the last lingerer 
passes; when, after a few minutes of vain effort to induce somebody 
else to pause, the preacher incontinently brings his sermon to an 
end. — Sometimes a crazy genius who has taken to street preaching 
as the only means of obtaining an auditory for his eloquence, has 
sufficient tact to amuse and interest a crowd. In less than three 
minutes the street is blocked up, and a policeman interferes, and 
orders the entertaining speaker and his audience to "move on." 
Any one is allowed to preach in the streets, provided he cannot get 
anybody to listen ; but a man who can command attention, and 
might do good, is instantly stopped, lest he block up the thoroughfare ! 
But pious efforts are not restricted to street preaching and tract- 
distribution. English preachers are fond of topical discourses. 
They are not content to depict sin as sin; they are ambitious of the 
rhetorical effect of depicting specific vices. A preacher will issue 
special invitation to shopkeepers to come out and hear him, when 
he will regale them with an essay upon the sin of cheating. 
Another will awaken the consciences of landladies and professional 
thieves, by dilating upon the crime and punishment of stealing. An 
unfailing means of commanding a congregation is to promise them 
a supper. The loaves and fishes are as attractive as ever. Hungry 
vice will alw T ays come to be fed. A few years ago, a distinguished 
preacher prepared an eloquent sermon upon the sin against the 



350 the world's crisis. 

seventh commandment. The discourse was ready, but where was 
the congregation ! It would not answer to preach such a sermon to 
an audience of respectable people. Nothing daunted, the preacher 
issued a call for all the cyprians of London, promising the poor 
creatures a supper at the end of the entertainment. The bait took. 
Hunger is stronger than shame ; and it drew thousands of famine- 
pinched wretches from the dens of vice, to hear the preacher's elo- 
quence — and eat his bread. Perhaps such a congregation never was 
gathered before, since the world began. The house was filled with halt, 
withered, lame, blind victims of vice. How much good the invective 
of the preacher accomplished is unknown; it did not impair the 
appetite of the audience for supper ! 

What remedy for this hopeless demoralization ? The moral de- 
pravity originates in the social condition of the people, — their fright- 
ful suffering, their abject want. The cause must be removed before 
the effect will cease. That cause can only be removed by the over- 
throw of the industrial system in which it has origin. 

It is mere trifling with misery, to look to the palliatives which 
charity promotes. The wretchedness that prevails in England is 
beyond the reach of benevolence to relieve. It is beyond the reach 
even of public, organized charity. It is the fruit of a vicious system 
of industry — a system, which, concentrating the commerce of the 
world in the hands of Great Britain, has increased the population 
beyond the capacity of comfortable subsistence — which necessitates 
low wages, while it exaggerates the price of all articles of necessary 
consumption. This system victimizes every class, except the titled 
nobility and the capitalists. While it prevails, there is no hope of 
ameliorating the condition of the English poor. Looking to the 
perpetuity of the existing state of things, Dickens regards coloni- 
zation as the only hope of the laboring classes. And Dickens is 
right. They must escape from the country where commerce rules 
with a sway more oppressive than an oriental despotism, and grinds 
the many into hopeless wretchedness, for the benefit of the few. 
They are happy who can escape. But the many cannot. The 
masses are fettered by poverty in their island prison. Their only hope 
rests in the overthrow of the system of which they are the victims. 



PART III. 

OUR UNCONSTITUTIONAL COURSE HAS INJURED THE 
WORLD POLITICALLY; STRENGTHENING ABSOLUT- 
ISM, RESCUING IT FROM RUIN, AND GIVING BIRTH 
TO A POLITICAL REACTION EMINENTLY DANGEROUS 
TO THE CAUSE OF LIBERTY AND ADVANCEMENT. 

We have seen how the exaltation of Great Britain, furthered by 
our policy, has injured the world, both in an industrial, and a social 
point of view. But these evils shrink into insignificance, in com- 
parison with the political evils the power of the British government 
is about to bring upon mankind. 

Europe is divided into two great antagonistic parties, — the party 
of Absolutism ; and the party of Liberal Government, and human 
progress. These parties have been arrayed against each other for 
three-quarters of a century, in ceaseless antagonism. During the 
last twenty years, the party of Progress has been in the ascendant. 
But a great reaction has just set in, mainly through the policy of 
the British government. A desperate struggle is now impending in 
the Old World, in which the power of England will, if possible, give 
to Absolutism a decisive victory, and enable it to dominate Europe, 
and threaten liberty with extinction, throughout the world. 

This is a grave charge, but facts abundantly sustain it. These 
facts we now set forth. 

Let us, first, consider the political condition of England, which 
commits the British Government, in the coming crisis, to the cause 
of Absolutism. 

(351) 



352 the world's crisis. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 

The statement that the British government is in sympathy with 
Absolutism, will excite, in the minds of many unthinking Britons, a 
tempest of indignation. Englishmen are proud of asserting that 
England is a free country — that the government is conducted in 
accordance with popular sentiment, and is in sympathy with liberal 
movements, everywhere. They cite the popular enthusiasm in favor 
of Hungary, Italy, and Poland, as evidence of the liberal tendencies 
of Great Britain. 

The sympathy of the English people with the liberal movements 
of the age is undeniable ; and if the government faithfully reflected 
the popular will, its liberal policy would be above question. But a 
clear line of distinction must be drawn between the sympathies of 
the English people, and the policy of the British government. 

England is a free country, in the sense that the royal authority is 
restricted within very narrow limits ; and that the country is gov- 
erned by the House of Commons. But the House of Commons does 
not now reflect the will of the English people, nor has it done so for 
several centuries. 

The manner in which the House of Commons originated has been 
already* mentioned. The Nobility of the realm were accustomed 
to meet in the assembly since known as the House of Lords. The 
knights of the shires and the burghers of the towns were summoned 
to send representatives to a different assembly. The House of Com- 
mons, thus established, continued, for several centuries, to represent 
fairly the borough towns and the landholders of the shires. Prior 
to the Revolution of 1640, the body was not possessed of sufficient 
political importance to induce tampering with the freedom of elec- 
tion. That revolution made it the ruling power in England. The 
Nobility perceived that they could rule the country, only by obtain- 

* See Ante, page 55-57. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 353 

ing control of the House of Commons, and they bent all their power 
to the accomplishment of that object. They succeeded in achieving 
their aim. The House of Commons ceased to reflect the will of the 
people, and became the mere tool of the Nobility. 

This revolution (for it deserves the term), was effected in the fol- 
lowing manner : — 

In its original constitution, the members of the House of Com- 
mons consisted of representatives of the Borough towns, and 
knights representing the counties. The members of the body were 
thus divided into two classes, — the representatives of the boroughs, 
and representatives of the counties. — When the Nobility undertook 
to control the body, they, as the chief landowners in the counties, 
were able to control the votes of the farmers who rented their lands, 
and thus obtain the election of county members devoted to their in- 
terest. — The control of the boroughs was not more difficult. When 
the House of Commons was instituted, the most important borough 
towns of the period were selected to send members to the body. But, 
in the course of ages, many of these towns gradually sunk into insig- 
nificance. Still, however, they continued to send members to Parlia- 
ment, while other towns, which afterward rose to importance, were left 
without representation. When it became important to control the 
House of Commons, wealthy nobles bought up these dilapidated 
borough towns — many of them sunk into villages of a few houses — and 
thus obtained the power to nominate their members to Parliament. 

For a century after the Revolution of 16'88, the English nobility 
ruled the country with absolute sway, through the agency of the 
House of Commons. Their influence as landowners in the county 
elections, and their possession of the "rotten boroughs," enabled 
them to make that body the subservient instrument of the Aristoc- 
racy. An ambitious man who aspired to a seat in Parliament, never 
thought of appealing to the popular voice, but obsequiously solicited 
of some noble lord an appointment from some of his boroughs. 
This political patron was his sole constituency. 

It was in obedience to the will of the haughty aristocracy, that 
the British Parliament adopted the tyrannical measures of taxation 
which led to the American Revolution. — When the French Revo- 
lution broke out, the masses of the English people sympathized with 



354 THE world's CRISIS- 

the movement. But the Aristocracy controlled the Parliament, and 
took the lead in the coalition of crowned heads against it, under the 
apprehension that the spread of its principles would lead to the 
overthrow of their power. The British government engaged in the 
war against the French Republic, in open defiance of the public 
opinion of the country, as expressed in overwhelming petitions to 
Parliament. 

I. The Reform Bill of 1832. 

During the war with France, an absolute monopoly of commerce, 
and the inflation of prices consequent upon the enormous outlays 
of the government and a depreciated paper currency, gave to Great 
Britain a factitious prosperity, which enabled the Aristocracy to 
carry out their policy to a successful termination. Bat upon the 
restoration of peace, the monopoly of commerce ceased, and inflated 
prices were reduced by the resumption of specie payments. The 
weight of taxation, easily borne during the war, now pressed with 
overpowering weight upon the energies of the nation. Dreadful 
suffering ensued. 

In periods of industrial crisis, popular clamor is ready to attribute 
all evils to the public administration ; and the abuses of the English 
parliamentary system were too glaring to be denied. The old 
borough towns still continued to send their members to Parliament. 
Some of them had dwindled down to a single house, whose resident 
was the sole voter. One town is mentioned, situated on ; tile coast, 
which had been entirely washed away by the encroachment of the 
ocean; but at elections, the hereditary voters entered a boat and 
rowed out in the sea to the site of the old borough, where, with due 
formalities, the polls were opened, and a member elected to Parlia- 
ment. — Public attention was forcibly drawn to these abuses by the 
odious administrative policy of the Aristocracy. They regarded the 
government as a close corporation, to be administered for the express 
furtherance of their class interests. Their property consisted 
chiefly in lands, and, regardless of the general welfare, they employed 
the legislature as an instrument to benefit the landed interest, by 
enactments designed to enhance the price of provisions. They im- 
posed tariffs on the importation of produce, to benefit the landed 
aristocracy ; as the American Congress has imposed tariffs on im- 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 355 

ported goods, for the benefit of the New England manufacturing 
aristocracy. They, moreover, so adjusted the system of taxation, 
as to press with excessive weight upon the industrious classes, 
leaving the Aristocracy comparatively exempt from the public bur- 
dens. Thus, while the general stagnation bore with crushing weight 
upon the English non-property classes, the legislation of the country 
oppressed them with peculiar burdens. They were ground with tax- 
ation ; and bread was so enhanced in price by prohibitory duties on 
wheat, known as the Corn Laws, as to be wholly beyond the means 
of the laboring classes, and even of many families of respectability. 
The only remedy for this state of things was to wrest the gov- 
ernment of the country from the landed Aristocracy, by reforming 
the abuses of parliamentary representation. 

The Whig party,, which had been in a hopeless minority in Par- 
liament, for forty years, seized upon the Reform movement as a 
means of raising the party to power. A fearful struggle ensued 
between the Tories, the party of the landed Aristocracy, who sought 
to maintain their ascendancy by retaining all the abuses of the 
government, and the Whigs, who comprised all the elements of the 
Opposition. The Tories had the power, and were resolved to keep 
it ; the Whigs were equally resolute in their determination to wrest 
it from them. The Tories, ignoring the fact that the British Con- 
stitution is nothing but a system of precedents, declaimed upon the 
sacredness of constitutional rights, and the danger of revolutionary 
tendencies ; the Whigs drew appalling pictures of the public distress, 
and denounced the system of government, by which the Aristocracy 
swayed the Parliament as their vested property. These denun- 
ciations, however, were impotent to influence the government; and 
the Tories, secure in their strong and fixed parliamentary majority, 
paid little regard to the philippics of their adversaries. 

The Whigs now changed their tactics. They summoned the 
masses to their aid. Indignation meetings were held. Popular 
excitement was fanned into a flame. Mammoth .petitions were 
poured in upon Parliament. The nation resounded with the cry of 
"Reform." The multitude, filled with indignation at Tory oppres- 
sion and maddened by want, rose in mobs under the lead of the 



356 

Whigs, and threatened to wrest from the government, by violence, 
the reforms demanded by the nation. Events seemed rapidly tend- 
ing to a revolutionary outbreak. 

The great body of the Tories held out in defiance of these move- 
ments. They were resolved to maintain their power, and repress 
popular outbreaks, if necessary, by force of arms. But many mod- 
erate Conservatives became alarmed. They thought it better to 
make moderate concessions, by Parliamentary action, than to have 
the entire social fabric of the country endangered by a revolution. 
This class of voters left the obstinate Tories, and went over to the 
Whig policy on the question of Reform. By the support of these 
allies, the Whigs found themselves in a majority of the House of 
Commons. They set about framing a Reform Bill. 

But here their difliculties began. The Reform party was divided 
into three factions. A few desired such a radical reform as would 
render the Parliament the representative of the nation. But these 
were more than counterbalanced by the other extreme wing of the 
party, composed of such Tories as were afraid to bring the issue of 
Reform to the arbitrament of arms ; who preferred to make some 
moderate concessions rather than provoke a revolution, but were 
resolved to concede as little as possible. The great majority of the 
Reform party in Parliament, however, were Whig representatives 
of the Middle class. These agreed with the Tories, that no conces- 
sions should be made that would give power to the masses. But 
they demanded such modifications of the system of representation, 
as would wrest the Parliament from the control of the landed Aris- 
tocracy, and consign it to the sway of the Middle class aristocracy, — 
the manufacturers, shippers, merchants, and capitalists, of the cities. 

In endeavoring to carry out this programme, the Middle class 
stood between the Tories on the one hand, and the people on the 
other, and in antagonism to both. They wished to strike down the 
Tories by disfranchising the u Rotten Boroughs," and substituting in 
their stead the modern towns and cities, in which the trading aris- 
tocracy held th'e preponderance of influence. At the same time, 
they wished to guard against the lower orders obtaining political 
control of these cities, by restricting the right of suffrage to the 
owners of houses, and those who paid an annual rental of ten 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 357 

pounds. In a word, it was the policy of the Whigs to give the 
cities control of the Parliament, and the Trading Aristocracy con- 
trol of the cities. 

They scouted the schemes of the radical Reformers, who would 
have given the Parliament into the control of the masses, and en- 
deavored to form a coalition with the Moderate Tory wing of the 
Reform party. 

The Tory allies of the Whigs — so this faction may be designated 
by way of distinction — were willing to co-operate with them in 
keeping the political control of the cities out of the hands of the 
Working class, by establishing a high basis of suffrage ; but they 
would not consent to the extinction of the Tory party, by so adjust- 
ing the basis of representation as to give the cities absolute control 
of the Parliament. 

The circumstances of the time urged upon the Whigs and their 
Tory coadjutors a prompt adjustment of their differences. The insur- 
rectionary spirit was abroad ; there was danger, if the agitation were 
prolonged, of the people rising and setting both the rival parties 
aside, and taking the control of the government into their own 
hands. Under the impulse of a common necessity, the Whigs and 
their Tory coadjutors entered into a compromise. It was agreed to 
so frame the Reform Bill as to keep the Working class out of power 
in the cities ; and to establish, as nearly as possible, an equilibrium 
of power between the Landed interest, on the one hand, and the 
cities, on the other, — or, in other words, between the Noble Aris- 
tocracy, and the Mercantile Aristocracy, — the Tories, and the 
Whigs. 

The Reform Bill of 1832 was the result of this compromise be- 
tween the Whigs and the Moderate Tories. It was the least the 
Whigs would accept, and the most the Tories would grant. The 
Bill excluded the Working class from power, by establishing a high 
franchise qualification ; fixing it, in the election of county members, 
at an annual rental of fifty pounds ; and limiting it in boroughs, to 
owners of real estate, and householders paying an annual rent of 
ten pounds. — In adjusting the basis of representation, it disfran- 
chised fifty-six of the " rotten boroughs," and reduced by half the 



358 

representation of thirty-two others. A reduction was thus made of 
one hundred and forty-four members, which were redistributed as 
follows : Forty-four new boroughs were enfranchised, among which 
sixty-four members were distributed, — two members each being al- 
lotted to twenty-two large towns, and one member each to twenty 
smaller towns. The remaining members were distributed among 
the counties, whose representation was thus enlarged. 

The Reform Bill was an exceedingly moderate measure. It left 
the right of representation to many old Borough towns which did 
not deserve it ; and it failed to give the large towns representation 
at all commensurate with their population. Instead of this, the 
representation of the disfranchised boroughs was divided between 
the towns and the counties. To have given them all to the enfran- 
chised towns, would have given the Whigs a decided preponderance. 
Hence, more than half the members of which the " rotten boroughs" 
were deprived, were allotted to the Tories in the increased repre- 
sentation of the counties. It was the manifest design of the bill to 
adjust the balance between the rival parties. So obvious was this 
intention, that apprehension was expressed at the time that, in the 
new adjustment of representation, neither party would have a suffi- 
cient majority in the House of Commons to carry on the govern- 
ment, — an apprehension verified by subsequent events. 

Imperfect as w T ere the reforms provided for in the Bill, the Tory 
party resisted its passage with desperate energy. When the Bill 
had passed the House of Commons, the House of Lords rejected it by 
an immense majority. The Whigs appealed to their allies, the pop- 
ulace ; riots all over the country indicated to the Peers what would 
be the result of persistence in their opposition to the measure. 
Nottingham and Bristol were burned. A mob of fifty thousand 
armed men were ready to march upon London, if the Peers did not 
recede from their opposition. The king, in alarm, formed a resolu- 
tion to exercise his prerogative, if necessary, and create new peers 
enough to insure a majority for the measure in the House of Lords. 
Thus menaced by the People on the one hand, and the Crown on the 
other, the Aristocracy submitted, and the Reform Bill became a law. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 359 

II. Whig and Tory Contests. 

Ever since the passage of the Reform Bill, England has been agi- 
tated by the contests of the Whigs and Tories — or, the Nobility, and 
Middle Class Aristocracy — for the supremacy. Before "vve can com- 
prehend the pertinacity which characterizes the party conflicts of 
English politics, we must understand the issues involved. 

The Whigs and Tories are in no sense national parties^ but are fac- 
tions, devoted to the furtherance of their respective class interests. 
Considerations of national policy are made to bend to the political 
interests of the factions, and the pecuniary interests of the classes 
they represent. 

The Tory party represents the interests of the titled Aristocracy. 
It is the " Country party," in contradistinction from their opponents, 
whose chief strength lies in the cities and towns. Its members in 
Parliament consist chiefly of representatives of the counties, and 
of the old Boroughs which were not expurgated by the Reform Bill 
of 1832. 

The policy of the Tories, in 1832, must be considered under a 
two-fold aspect. It was both aggressive, and conservative. 

The Tories were, then, an aggressive party. 

The Nobility being the landowner class, its interests are identified 
with agriculture. It has, therefore, always been the policy of the 
Tory party, to extend to agriculture the protection of the govern- 
ment. They aimed to protect the agricultural interest, directly, by 
imposing duties upon importations of breadstuffs ; and indirectly, by 
so adjusting the revenue system of the country, as to shield agricul- 
turists, as far as possible, from taxation, imposing upon other indus- 
trial interests an undue proportion of the public burdens. 

To enable the Nobility to maintain high rents, "corn laws'' were 
passed, which imposed high and almost prohibitory duties upon im- 
ported breadstuffs. Thus, legislation maintained agricultural pro- 
duce at an exorbitant price, while the people were famishing. 
Famine prices prevailed, for the benefit of the noble proprietors of 
landed estates. 

Still further to benefit the landed interest, the Tories raised the 



360 THE world's crisis. 

greater portion of the public revenues by duties and excises, instead 
of direct taxation. They imposed heavy duties upon all imported 
articles of general consumption ; they even levied duties upon im- 
ported raw material for manufactures. In 1834, the national 
expenditure was, in round numbers, £53,000,000. Of this, £21,- 
000,000 was derived from customs ; £17,000,000 from excise ; £10,- 
000,000 from the business of the country, in licenses, stamps, post- 
age, etc. ; and £5,000,000 from direct taxation, levied, not on wealth, 
but on population, by taxes upon windows, chimneys, etc. Under 
this system, the taxation of Great Britain was chiefly levied upon 
the commerce of the country, and the Working class. The nobility, 
though at the time the richest class in the nation, was almost entirely 
exempt from taxation. The property of the country paid nothing. 
All taxes were levied upon industry and consumption. 

This protection of the landed interest was the aggressive policy 
of the Tory party. 

It had also a conservative policy. 

The Nobility is an hereditary Aristocracy, whose existence de- 
pends upon the maintenance of certain hereditary privileges. In- 
heritance by primogeniture is the keystone of British Aristocracy : 
an equal division of estates among the children would be a fatal 
blow to the Nobility. But the system of primogeniture involves the 
necessity of making provision for younger children of noble houses 
out of the public purse, by obtaining for them positions, either in 
the Established Church, in the army or navy, or in some department 
of civil service. The Tory party, therefore, in the interest of the 
Aristocracy, was, as it still is, violently opposed to any diminution 
of the revenues of the Established Church, and to the adoption of 
any official system in the military and civil departments of service, 
that would prevent the scions of the Nobility from finding, in future, 
their accustomed quarters. 

This distinction between the aggressive and conservative policy 
of the Tories is important, and must be borne in mind. The aggres- 
sive policy aimed to control the public administration for class 
benefit; the conservative policy seeks to prevent innovation, and 
maintain for the Nobility their prescriptive privileges under the 
government. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 361 

The Whig party represents the Middle class aristocracy. Its 
strength lies in the cities and borough towns. It is devoted to the 
interests of the manufacturers, merchants, shippers, — to the com- 
mercial interests of the country. 

The Whig party is agreed with the Tories, in so far that it is op- 
posed to innovations that would give power to the Working class. 
It holds with them that the government must be swayed by the 
property classes. The Middle class aristocracy has immense prop- 
erty-interests at stake ; and it is fearful that a government controlled 
by the people would legislate in a manner injurious to property in- 
terests. It feels that the Nobility is a safeguard against democratic 
tendencies — that were it overturned, the Middle class aristocracy, 
standing alone, could not for a moment resist the tendency to radi- 
cal innovation. The Middle class aristocracy — and its organ the 
Whig party — is, therefore, in favor of making common cause with 
the Nobility in support of all their vested privileges. 

Besides this common interest against the Working class, the Mid- 
dle class aristocracy is committed to the support of the Nobility by 
their instinctive deference for rank. Toadyism is ingrained in the 
English nature. The most respectable ladies will bribe or coax a 
policeman to suffer them to stand, for hours, in the open court of the 
palace, that they may have an opportunity to see royalty pass from 
the door to the carriage. A British merchant, the most insolent of 
mortals to the common world, is the cringing, obsequious humble 
servant of a lord. An idolatrous reverence for rank is the most 
striking characteristic of the Middle class. Thus, a common inter- 
est and an unbounded veneration combine to commit the Middle 
class aristocracy to a firm support of the Nobility. They are reso- 
lutely bent upon maintaining the Nobility in the enjoyment of all 
the immunities and privileges necessary to their vigorous existence 
as a class. 

The Whigs, therefore, cordially assented to the conservative policy 
of the Tories, and were willing to co-operate with them in maintain- 
ing the prescriptive privileges of the Aristocracy. They are as 
resolute as the Tories themselves in maintaining the Established 
Church, and in upholding the system of administration which makes 
the government the wet nurse of the younger scions of the Aristoc- 



362 

racy, by providing them berths in the various civil and military 
departments. 

The Whigs are also influenced by their reverence for the Nobility, 
and by motives of self-interest, to acquiesce, in part, in the aggres- 
sive policy of the Tories. The Middle class aristocracy have a 
common interest "with the Nobility in levying the revenues of the 
country, as far as possible, upon the working mass of the population. 
The system of raising revenues by excises and customs meets the 
cordial approval of the Whig party. It bears heavier upon the 
Aristocracy of Trade than upon the Nobility, it is true ; but they 
prefer it to a system which would raise revenue from wealth, instead 
of population. 

But the Tories carried this system to an excess which proved in- 
jurious to the Aristocracy of trade. Their " corn laws," and their 
direct taxes upon windows, chimneys, etc., so oppressed the working 
population, as to necessitate one of two alternatives, — an advance 
of wages ; or, a loss of strength to labor, on account of privation, — 
either of which must inflict serious loss upon employers. Being un- 
willing to submit to either of these alternatives, for the exclusive 
benefit of the landed Nobility, the Whigs insisted on the repeal of 
the corn laws and the direct taxes upon the poor. 

It is unnecessary to trace the contest of the rival parties over 
these issues. The Reform Bill of 1832 had so nearly balanced the 
strength of the rival parties, as to give neither an efficient parlia- 
mentary majority. By accepting scions of the Nobility as their 
candidates in doubtful Boroughs, the Whigs sometimes were in con- 
trol of the government; but these allies were always ready to desert 
them, when they attempted to carry any measure opposed to the 
interest of the Nobility. The contest between the parties continued 
till 1846, when the magnanimity of Peel, the Tory minister, accom- 
plished what the Whigs were not able to effect — and the corn laws 
were abolished. The defection of Peel demoralized the Tories, and 
the Whigs obtained possession of the government. 

The tactics by which the Whigs achieved this victory were the 
same as those by which they carried the Reform Bill of 1832. They 
appealed to the masses, who held indignation meetings, flooded Par- 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 363 

Ham en t with petitions, and rose in mobs ; when, rather than risk all 
the privileges of the Nobility upon the chances of civil war, many 
moderate Tories decided to abandon the obnoxious measures. 

When it came into power in 1846, the Whig party was composed 
of three wings. 

1. First, there was the main body of true Whigs, devoted entirely 
to the interests of the Middle class aristocracy, and in favor of all 
the administrative reforms necessary to relieve the commerce of the 
country from its excessive burdens. 

2. There was a strong body of what we may term Tory-Whigs, — 
persons devoted at heart to the class interests of the Nobility, but 
satisfied that the true interests of that class lay in assenting to such 
reasonable administrative reforms, as were necessary to allay public 
discontent, and prevent danger of outbreak. They deemed it safer 
to co-operate with the Aristocracy of trade in such partial reforms 
as they desired, and obtain, in return, their cordial co-operation in 
maintaining the government against organic changes dangerous to 
the existence of the Nobility. 

It may be asked why the Whigs submitted, and have continued to 
the present day to submit, to this kind of alliance with moderate 
Tories ? Why have they not elected Whigs, in their stead ? 

The answer reveals the secret of the weakness of the Whig party, 
and discloses the key to its intrigues, for years past. 

In many of the English Borough towns, the influence of the No- 
bility and that of the Middle class aristocracy are nearly equal, 
with perhaps a slight preponderance of the influence of the Nobil- 
ity. In such Boroughs, on a fair comparison of strength, the 
Whigs would be beaten. The party can carry them, only by adopting 
as its candidate some scion of the Nobility, firmly devoted to the 
interests of his class, but willing to administer the government on 
liberal principles, and represent the interests of the Commercial 
aristocracy in so far as they do not come in collision with the in- 
terests of his own class. The principles of such a candidate are 
satisfactory to many moderate Tories, and his family influence carries 
Tory votes enough to secure his election. These representatives 
are Whigs, while Whig measures consist with the privileges of the 



364 THE world's crisis. 

Nobility ; but on the first symptom of danger to the interests of their 
class, they abandon the Whig party, and range themselves with the 
Tory party, where their fealty belongs. 

3. The third section of the Whig party, in 1846, consisted of 
"Liberals," — a party representing the mechanics, and the better 
portion of the Working Class. 

The rise of the " Liberal party " occurred much to the discomfiture 
of the Whigs. In arranging the provisions of the Reform Bill of 
1832, the Whigs accounted the cities of England as their own. 
They expected that the Middle class aristocracy would control the 
elections, by compelling the clerks and mechanics who had the right 
of suffrage to vote for the Whig candidates. But, unfortunately for 
their calculations, the mechanics soon freed themselves from the 
dictation of their employers, by means of Trade Unions. They now 
resolved, instead of voting for Whigs, to elect men to Parliament 
devoted to the interests of the Working class. In the large manu- 
facturing towns, w T here mechanics are most numerous, they obtained 
a decided political ascendancy. Thus, a number of cities were 
wrested from Whig influence, and committed to a class whose aspi- 
rations after political power were more obnoxious to the Whigs than 
even Tory domination. 

In 1846, however, the " Liberals " were too feeble, and too modest, 
to hope for any distinct party influence upon the destinies of the 
nation. They modestly and wisely shrunk beneath the mantle of 
Whig protection, satisfied with the recognition of their separate 
existence, and hoping by their co-operation to give a more liberal 
direction to the policy of the Whigs. 

The union of these incongruous elements in the Whig party has 
exerted the most important influence upon the course of English 
politics, and also upon political movements throughout the world. 

The Whigs were completely at the mercy of the two antagonistic 
elements attached to their party. A defection of the Tory-Whigs, 
or of the Liberals, would throw them out of power. They were, 
therefore, under the necessity of adopting a policy that would secure 
the support of both their allies. 

The Tory- Whigs were content with compelling the Whig party to 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 365 

proceed with extreme caution in changing the system of taxation. 
Under such circumstances, the reform of the system of taxation 
proceeded slowly ; but under the impulse of Liberal agitation and 
Whig purpose, it did progress ; and after years of agitation, during 
which the Tories came into power again, and failed to obtain by their 
system sufficient revenue for the wants of the government, the Whigs 
succeeded in forcing their Tory allies to consent to a modification 
of the revenue system, and the adoption of the system of taxation 
that now prevails in England. 

The following is an outline of the modifications adopted : — 1. The 
abolition of the duties on imported provisions, and of the objection- 
able direct taxes on houses. — 2. The retention of the system of 
raising revenue by customs, excises, stamps, and license taxes; — 
but many articles formerly dutyable were placed on the free list, for 
the benefit of the commercial and manufacturing interests, — the 
revenue from customs being raised from duties on a comparatively 
small number of articles. — 3. The deficiency of revenue caused by 
the release of articles from duty, and by the abolition of corn laws 
and house taxes, was raised by a tax levied on incomes. 

These modifications, though at first resisted by the Tories, were 
soon accepted by the party. The changes they wrought were in- 
deed very slight, leaving the framework of the system of taxation 
devised by the Tories, unaltered. 

The Liberals were then content with effecting these reforms, and 
with controlling the foreign relations of the country. In the last 
particular, the Liberal party has exerted a powerful influence upon 
the course of events. They were in sympathy with liberal move- 
ments abroad, and have been able to compel the British government 
to maintain a friendly attitude toward them. The Liberals have 
controlled the foreign policy of the British government, for the last 
fifteen years. It is mainly owing to them, that Great Britain as- 
sumed the friendly attitude toward the French government which 
has enabled Napoleon to achieve so much in behalf of liberal move- 
ments in Europe. The Anglo-French alliance, which has firmly held 
Absolutism in check, owed its existence to the influence of their 
balance of power in the British Parliament. 

But the time soon came when the Liberals refused to be content 



366 the world's crisis. 

with the administrative reforms of the Whigs. They had been 
gradually growing in strength. In city after city, the mechanics 
had emancipated themselves from the dictation of their employers, 
and sent " Liberals " to Parliament. Every gain to the Liberals 
was a diminution of Whig strength : in 1857, this had progressed so 
far, that the Liberals held the balance of power between the other 
two parties. The Whigs, composed of representatives of the Middle 
class aristocracy and moderate Tories, were in a majority when sup- 
ported by the Liberals ; but the transfer of the Liberal vote to their 
opponents would leave them in a minority. Since, under the En- 
glish parliamentary system, an administration must retire from 
power, whenever it is in a minority in Parliament, the Liberals now 
had the power to break down any administration, by joining the 
opposition upon a test question. They were in a position to pro- 
pound their demands with confidence ; and they demanded that the 
Whigs should continue to tread the path of Reform. 

The power of the Liberals filled both the other parties with dis- 
may. Neither could carry on the government without their aid; 
and they demanded, as the price of their support, concessions which 
neither was willing to grant. This state of things led to the system 
of maneuvering which has characterized English politics for the last 
ten years. 

To comprehend the party tactics of the three parties, it is neces- 
sary to understand the aims of the Liberal party. 

The policy of the Liberals embraces a two-fold aim, — a thorough 
parliamentary reform ; and a thorough reform of the public admin- 
istration. 

In respect of parliamentary reform, they demand, in the first 
place, a new apportionment of parliamentary representatives, in 
which population shall be made the basis of representation. The 
adoption of this basis would disfranchise the remainder of the rot- 
ten boroughs, vastly increase the representation of the cities and 
towns, and give a small additional representation to the counties. 
L T pon this basis, the cities and towns would control Parliament by 
an overwhelming majority. — The second feature in the proposed 
plan of reform would give the cities and towns into the control of 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 367 

the "Working class. To this end, the Liberals demand an extension 
of the franchise that will allow the better portion of the Working 
class to vote; and the adoption of the ballot, that they may vote 
free from the dictation of their employers. 

This parliamentary reform would transfer the Parliament to the 
absolute control of the Working class. 

When by means of parliamentary reform, the Liberals shall have 
obtained control of the government, they propose to carry out a 
thorough system of administrative reforms. 

In the first place, they demand a radical reform of the revenue 
system. They desire the substitution of a general property tax for 
the present system of raising revenue by customs, excises, stamps, 
license, and income taxes, which levies all the public burdens upon 
the industrial classes. Their object in this is to relieve the Work- 
ing class from the burden of taxation at present borne by them ; and 
to force the wealthy classes to diminish their magnificence, or at 
least to pay taxes upon the property withheld from use, and devoted 
to purposes of display. 

But the Liberals are not content with demanding a reform of the 
revenue system. They do not share the tenderness of the Middle 
class aristocracy for the Nobility. They aim at the reformation of 
all the time-honored abuses of the British government, through 
which the Nobility maintain the power of their order. 

The revenues of the Church of England are derived from arbi- 
trary levies upon the incomes of Dissenters, as well as Churchmen. 
It is an oppressive hierarchy, maintained because it affords a multi- 
tude of berths, emphatically termed " livings," for the younger sons 
of the Aristocracy ; and, because the right of presenting to these 
"livings" is a vested property right of the Nobility, as well estab- 
lished as their right to their lands. The revenues of the Church of 
England exceed those of all the state churches of the rest of Europe. 
The Working class are almost all Dissenters ; and the Liberals pro- 
pose to take from the Established Church the patronage of the state, 
leaving it to rely, like the other sects, upon the voluntary contribu- 
tions of its votaries. 

The Liberals also propose to reform the public administration in 



368 the world's crisis. 

respect of the system of office holding. Hitherto, the army, navy, 
and civil departments of government have been crowded with scions 
of the Aristocracy, whose relations have no other means of provid- 
ing for them, — " noble Barnacles," as Dickens styles them, who have 
fixed themselves upon the ship of state. The Crimean war showed 
the incapacity of these officials, in striking contrast with the effi- 
ciency of the French system. The Liberals propose to adopt the 
French system, where all offices, civil and military, are open to merit 
rather than rank, and where promotion by merit is the system, in- 
stead of promotion by family influence, or by purchase. 

The execution of these reforms would be fatal to the Nobility. 
The overthrow of the Established Church, and of the system of 
government patronage, would compel every noble house to provide 
for its younger branches. This would be a heavy burden ; and when 
property taxation was superadded to it, the Nobility would find their 
magnificence diminished, indeed. Under this system, the downfall 
of the Nobility would be only a question of time. The discontented 
younger children, deprived of all resource, would lead a clamor 
for the abolition of inheritance by primogeniture, and the division 
of estates among all the heirs ; and, their petition granted — which a 
Liberal Parliament would not be reluctant to do — the English Nobil- 
ity would soon be numbered among the things that were. 

It may easily be imagined that the Tories, knowing the ultimate 
aims of the Liberals, looked with inquietude upon their demands for 
additional reforms. 

Not less was the uneasiness of the Whigs. They saw that all ad- 
ditional reforms only approximated to the ultimate aim of the Lib- 
erals, and they were as unwilling to risk the rule of mechanics, as 
were the Tories. The Whigs were willing to relieve the Working 
class from oppression, so far as consistent with the interests of the 
Middle class aristocracy ; but they were very far from being willing 
to extend to it greater political rights. They feared that Labor, if 
invested with political power, might oppress Capital. The Middle 
class employers did not choose to have the government ruled by 
their men. The spirit of communism was of too recent date to be 
forgotten. They might apprehend that, under a government ruled 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 369 

by mechanics, the men might choose to purchase mills and run them 
on their own account ; or, at least, that the government might adopt 
a policy fatal to their class interests. — Moreover, the Tory wing of 
the Whig party were resolutely bent upon yielding no further to the 
demands of a party whose ultimate aims were so dangerous to the 
Nobility. 

Influenced by such apprehensions, the Whig administration, in 
1857, refused to yield further to the agitation of their Liberal allies 
for additional reforms. Lord Palmerston, who was then premier, 
belonged to the Tory wing of the Whig party. He had reached the 
limit of his progress in reform. The administrative reforms already 
accomplished were sufficient to satisfy the Middle class aristocracy, 
and he was unwilling to go further for the gratification of the 
Working class. 

III. Whig and Tory Intrigues. 

Now began the system of intrigue which has ever since charac- 
terized English politics. 

The Liberals (1857), finding that the Whig administration main- 
tained in power by their votes would not yield to their demands, 
resolved to signalize their displeasure and prove their strength, by 
unseating it from power. Events prove that they came to an under- 
standing with the Tory leaders ; and that the terms of the alliance 
were, that the Tories, in return for the adhesion of the Liberals, 
should pass certain measures of administrative reform, and, espe- 
cially, that they should pass a Eeform Bill extending considerably 
the area of suffrage. A test question was brought up ; the vote of 
the Liberals with the Opposition, defeated the ministry ; and the 
Tories came into power. 

The question arises, Why did the Tories enter into such an ar- 
rangement? Were their leaders so much in love with office as to 
make concessions dangerous to their order, to secure it ? No : the 
Tories looked far beyond the interests of the moment ; they were 
governed by a far-reaching policy, which sought to use the vote of 
the Liberals, with Reform as the bait, to pass a bill that would con- 
solidate the power of their own party. 

The Tory leaders perceived that, in the existing balance of 
24 



370 THE world's crisis. 

parties, neither of the great parties could carry on the government 
without the aid of the Liberals ; and that this state of things ena- 
bled the latter to extort concessions, which, sooner or later, would 
bring the government under their control. If the Nobility and 
Middle class aristocracy were united against the Liberals, they 
might rule the country without difficulty. The dissension of these 
two classes gave the Liberals influence, as holding the balance of 
power between them. The Tory leaders sought to remedy this state 
of things, by so weakening the Whig party, and strengthening their 
own, as to destroy the former, and cause them to disband as a po- 
litical organization ; when, in a contest between the Tories and the 
Liberals, the Middle class aristocracy would promptly side with the 
former. The aim of the Tory leaders was to simplify English poli- 
tics, by blotting out one of the great parties, and rallying all the 
aristocratic elements to their own organization, in opposition to the 
party of the Working class. To this end, they proposed to frame a 
Reform Bill that would cut down the strength of the Whig party, 
and increase the power of the Tories and Liberals ; — thus, as one of 
their pamphleteers phrased it, " giving to a Reform measure a Tory 
signification." 

It was not difficult to frame a Reform Bill that would have this 
effect. The Whigs occupy a position between the Tories and the Lib- 
erals, and antagonistic to both. In many of the larger towns, they 
wage a hard conflict with the Liberals, while they maintain, in the 
small boroughs, a doubtful contest with the Tories. If a Reform 
Bill were framed, that would give a few more votes to the Liberals 
in the cities, and a few more to the Tories in the small Boroughs, 
the Whig party, pared down on both sides, would be reduced to in- 
significance. This arrangement would strengthen the Liberals, it is 
true ; but it would give the Tories all the doubtful Boroughs so long 
contested with the Whigs, and insure them a clear majority in Par- 
liament, sufficient to carry on the government against the opposition 
of both the other parties. Then, the Middle class aristocracy, hope- 
less of power for themselves, and compelled to choose between the 
Nobility or the Working class, would ally themselves with the former ; 
and the Tories would rule the country with strong majorities. 

The Reform Bill of the Tories was carefully framed with an eye 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 371 

to the end in view. It proposed no change in the basis of repre- 
sentation. It proposed to retain the "rotten boroughs;" also 
the open vote, that landlords might still influence the votes of 
their tenants and employes. The Bill simply proposed to extend 
the franchise, — in such a way as to include a greater number of 
rustics under the control of Tory landlords, and a greater number 
of mechanics in the towns. The votes of the former would enable 
the Tories to wrest from the Whigs many closely-contested small 
boroughs ; the latter would carry a number of large towns in favor 
of the Liberals. 

The scheme was well concocted, and if the Bill had passed, it 
would have extinguished the Whig party. But many of the Tories 
were unwilling to extend the franchise under any conditions, for 
fear of dangerously increasing the strength of the Liberals. The 
"Whigs, too, were awake to their danger. They were resolved to 
defeat the Tory project, at all hazards : at the critical moment, they 
offered a motion which promised the Liberals a better Reform Bill 
than that of the Tories. This secured the Liberal vote, defeated 
the Tory project, and drove the party from power. 

This defeat was a critical period for the Tories. The Whigs were 
in a situation to turn their own batteries against them. The Whigs 
might as easily frame a Reform Bill that would annihilate the Tories, 
as the Tories one that would ruin the Whigs ; and the course of the 
Tories had stimulated the partisan feelings of their antagonists to 
such a pitch, that they were ready to use their advantage to the 
utmost. The Tory leaders perceived the stern resentment of the 
Whigs, and foresaw that the leaders would avail themselves of the 
passions of the hour, to unite the whole party upon a fatal Reform 
Bill. They resolved, therefore, to gain time, and suffer the passions 
of the moment to cool : instead of at once retiring, and suffering 
the Whigs and Liberals to form a coalition government, they chose 
the alternative of a dissolution of Parliament, and went before the 
country on the question of Reform. — The result of the election 
showed that the voting classes of England were opposed to Reform. 
The Tories gained twenty-five members : the Whigs, besides this 
loss, found themselves under the necessity of adopting, in many 



372 the world's crisis. 

doubtful Boroughs, candidates know to be opposed to Reform. The 
Tory wing of the Whig party received, in this manner, many ac- 
cessions. 

When the new Parliament assembled, the Whigs and Liberals, 
combined, had a bare working majority. A coalition was formed, 
in which Lord Palmerston was premier. — The Whigs were under the 
necessity of passing several measures for the gratification of their 
Liberal allies. Among these was the repeal of the obnoxious paper 
tax, — a most important political measure, as it reduced the price of 
newspapers, and brought political reading within the reach of the 
masses. At length, the Whig ministry brought forward a Reform 
Bill, which, under pretense of extending the suffrage, was so framed 
as to redound to the advantage of the Whig party at the expense 
of the Tories. The Bill proposed to disfranchise some thirty-five 
"rotten boroughs," which added materially to the Tory strength; and 
to reduce the suffrage basis in the towns from a ten pound rental, to 
a rental of six pounds. 

The reduction of the suffrage basis would add to the Liberal 
strength in the manufacturing towns, where the mechanics had freed 
themselves from the dictation of employers ; but it would give them 
control of very few boroughs not already under their sway, inasmuch 
as Whig employers could control the votes of all employes except 
mechanics. While the Bill would not materially weaken the Whigs 
in the boroughs contested with the Liberals, it would give them a 
mass of new votes in the boroughs contested with the Tories, suf- 
ficient, in many instances, to give them a decided preponderance. 
The party would thus be freed from the necessity of accepting mod- 
erate Tories as their candidates in such boroughs ; and, besides, it 
would gain so many representatives from Tory boroughs, as to secure 
a firm majority in Parliament. This increase of strength would 
free the party from the necessity of compromising with moderate 
Tories on the one hand, and, on the other, of a coalition with the 
Liberals. 

The plan was well conceived ; but when the ministers brought 
forward the Bill in Parliament, the Tory wing of the Whig party 
showed unequivocal signs of revolt. They were decidedly opposed 
to the measure, both because it increased the power of the Working 



POLITICAL CONDITION OP ENGLAND. 373 

class, and because it diminished the power of the Nobility. The 
Whig ministry found that the measure would not pass, and withdrew 
it; recapitulating to their Liberal allies all the reforms of admin- 
istration effected by the Whigs for the benefit of the Working class, 
and bidding them " rest and be thankful." 

The introduction of the Bill was sufficient to save the faith of the 
Whig ministry. Palmerston himself, from his Tory predilections, 
was not ardent in support of the Bill, and only assented to it as a 
propitiatory offering to the Liberals : it soon became evident that he 
was not favorable to the introduction of any other Bill proposing 
organic reform. The Liberals were resentful, but powerless ; for 
the Tories, satisfied with the Conservatism of Palmerston, made no 
effort to unseat him. He continued to govern England as long as 
he lived, by the easy pliancy with which, as chief of a motley party, 
he suffered events to take their course. 

The Tories might at any time have overthrown his administra- 
tion, if they would have accepted of an alliance with the Liberals. 
But their past experience satisfied them that they could not control 
any Reform Bill they might introduce in co-operation with the Lib- 
erals : the Whigs could always propose such modifications as would 
carry the Liberal vote, and thus wrest the bill from their control. 
Their only hope of carrying such a Reform Bill as would redound 
to the advantage of the party, lay in obtaining the support of the 
Tory wing of the Whig party. Until then, they resolved to wait, 
and let reform alone. 

They knew the weakness of the Whig party, with its two discord- 
ant wings, — one urgent for reform, the other resolutely opposed to 
it. The defection of either would overthrow the party, and the de- 
fection of one or the other was bound to occur at no distant date. 
If the Whigs, in deference to the wishes of their Tory allies, refused 
to introduce a Reform Bill, the Liberals would withdraw their sup- 
port; if the Whig leaders yielded to the Liberal pressure and intro- 
duced another Reform Bill, the Tory Whigs would go over to the 
opposition: in either event, the Whig party would fall from power. 
The Tories, under the circumstances, felt themselves masters of the 
situation, and able to wait for the approaching crisis in the fortunes 
of the Whigs. 



374 the world's crisis. 

The event fulfilled their expectations. While Palmerston lived, 
he kept his party clear of the rock of reform ; parrying with easy 
good nature the sarcasms of his restless Liberal allies, and keeping 
them in a humor of surly compliance, in the hope that his death 
would enable them to extort the desired concessions from the next 
Whig Premier. 

The death of Palmerston was the signal for renewed agitation. 
The Liberals, whose patience was spent, demanded of the Whigs 
fulfillment of their compact. During the past summer,* the new 
Whig ministry brought forward a Reform Bill. 

The Bill proposed, as usual, the disfranchisement of the "rot- 
ten boroughs," and the maintenance of open voting ; — also the be- 
stowal of the franchise upon all householders paying a rental of 
seven pounds, and all lodgers paying an annual rent of the same 
amount. The object of the bill was to consolidate Whig power, by 
securing for them, in the boroughs contested with the Tories, an 
additional number of votes. The franchise basis was fixed at a 
seven pounds rental, instead of six, to propitiate the Tory-Whigs ; 
the lodger franchise was introduced for the same purpose, many of 
the lodgers on whom the franchise would be conferred, belonging to 
the Aristocratic and Middle classes. 

But the Tory wing of the Whig party was not to be propitiated. 
Unalterably opposed to any change that would diminish the power 
of the Nobility, they manifested in the course of the debate their 
disposition to oppose the measure, if it were pressed. The Whig 
ministry pressed it to a vote : that section of the party seceded, 
and went over to the Tories : the Whigs were defeated : the Tories, 
strengthened by these accessions from the Whig party, have taken 
possession of the government. 

England is now under Tory rule, — Tory rule, stronger than when 
the party held power seven years ago, by a doubtful alliance with 
the Liberals. The Tories are now supported by the Tory wing of 
the Whig party, — an element which has always been devoted at 

*This chapter was completed early in the Fall of 1866. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 375 

heart to the Tory interest ; and which will probably prove firm and 
true to the alliance. 

What use will the Tories make of power ? If we judge from their 
past course, they will avail themselves of the occasion, to pass a 
Reform Bill that will annihilate the Whigs, and place their own 
party firmly in the ascendant. The time is propitious. The agita- 
tion the Whigs and Liberals are making for Reform will be advan- 
tageous, inasmuch as it will convince the reluctant members of the 
Tory party that the question must be settled, — that the government 
cannot go on as it has for the last ten years, — and that it is better 
to settle the question, now, before the Liberals excite a dangerous 
agitation, and while Tories, supported by the Tory element of the 
Whig party, are able to control the Bill, and give it a direction 
favorable to their party interests. 

The Tory leaders have evidently been waiting for the present 
opportunity, for several years. Disraeli, the planner of the former 
bill, who persisted in his purpose to the end, in the face of the 
fiercest opposition from his own party, is too astute not to seize the 
present opportunity, to carry his policy to a successful issue. It 
will no doubt be his policy to carry a Reform Bill that will give his 
party such a decided ascendancy over both the other parties, as will 
enable it to sway the country, despite their combined opposition. 

It will be easy, as we have shown, to frame such a bill. Admit 
more mechanics to the franchise in the towns, so as to strengthen 
the Liberals against the Whigs, and more country rustics in the 
boroughs disputed between the Tories and Whigs, — and the work is 
done. The Tory landlords can control the votes of their tenants 
and laborers, and thus defeat the Whigs in the doubtful boroughs. 
This would give them at least all the boroughs heretofore repre- 
sented by Tory Whigs, — an accession of strength sufficient to give 
them a clear majority in Parliament. 

This adjustment is attended with only one danger : If an indus- 
trial crisis involving great distress should occur pending a parlia- 
mentary election, the general distress might drive the enfranchised 
tenants of the Tories to desperation, and cause them to vote for the 
Liberals despite the influence of their landlords, and thus give that 
party a majority in Parliament. In such event, the Liberals would 



376 the world's crisis. 

remodel the whole governmental fabric. This, however, is a future 
contingency. Meantime, the Tories would rule the government 
with a clear majority. The danger of such a future contingency 
will hardly prevent them from strengthening their position, by means 
of an extension of the suffrage. 

But if the Tories refuse to pass a Reform Bill, still, they have 
control of the country for years to come. In pressing their bill 
even to the rupture of the party, the Whigs have thoroughly com- 
mitted themselves to reform. Their course has lost them the 
boroughs represented by the Tory- Whigs, w T hich are opposed to 
such an extension of the franchise as would weaken the Nobility. 
Those boroughs will elect Tories, in future, and maintain that party 
in possession of the government, at least for years to come. If the 
Tories decide not to venture on Reform, their power is safe until the 
agitation of the masses shall extort from them such a Reform Bill 
as shall give their opponents a majority in Parliament. But no 
dangerous agitation can be excited while the country is prosperous. 

Hence, whether the Tories frame a Reform Bill for their own ad- 
vantage, or not, they will keep possession of the government until 
some crisis occurs that shall excite the British population to an out- 
break against the authority of the Nobility. 

We may take it as a fixed fact, that England is, for the time, 
firmly under Tory rule, and base our political calculations upon that 
fact. 

If we now turn our attention to European affairs, it will be evi- 
dent that the government of Great Britain, in Tory hands, will wreck 
the political hopes of mankind. 

A full exposition of the political status of Europe must be left to 
future chapters. It is sufficient for our present purpose, to remark 
that, on the Continent of Europe, a prolonged struggle has been 
going on between Absolutism and Progress. Which side will the 
Tory government of England take, in the approaching crisis of that 
struggle? 

The English Tories have always sympathized with the despotic 
governments, against popular movements. They sympathized with 
Austria, in her attempt to maintain her hold upon Italy. They sym- 



TOLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 377 

pathizcd with Bornba, the tyrant of Naples, against Garibaldi. They 
sympathized with Denmark, in her attempt to maintain her feudal 
sway over the German state of Holstein. The Tories have sympa- 
thized with all efforts to maintain the existing status. They sym- 
pathized with the Bourbons, against the French Republic of 1848; 
with Austria, against Hungary; with the despots, against Poland. 
They have regarded with bitter hostility every effort to introduce a 
new and better order of things. All their sympathies are for des- 
potism, and against the people. They have heaped derision upon 
the aspirations of the oppressed and disparted nationalities of Eu- 
rope after their lost national independence ; and they have denounced, 
in unmeasured terms, the sympathy of Napoleon with their cause, as 
dangerous to Europe, and in violation of the faith of treaties. 

The English nobility feel that their own privileges belong to the 
Feudal Ages, and are identified with the feudal cause on the Con- 
tinent of Europe. The same spirit which is wrestling for Nation- 
ality, on the Continent, is endeavoring, in England, to wrest from the 
Nobility their oppressive feudal rights. The English nobility are 
well apprised that their cause is the cause of despotism, everywhere. 
They lean upon Russia, as firmly as do the despotic kingdoms of 
Europe. They feel that she is their most puissant ally. This feel- 
ing is so strong, that it prompted them to sympathize with Russia 
during the Crimean war ! Though her triumph would menace the 
British empire in India, it would increase her prestige, and strengthen 
the cause of Absolutism in Europe ! They deprecated her humilia- 
tion, as a blow to the cause of " order," struck against its most puis- 
sant champion! 

The Tories are the same party, now, they were when they warred 
to the death against the French Revolution. They have never 
changed their principles. In the decisive conflict approaching be- 
tween Absolutism and Progress, the Tory government of England 
will take sides with Russia and Absolutism, against France and 
Progress. 

Judging from the recent foreign policy of Great Britain, it may 
be supposed that the British government, whatever its sympathies, 
will hold aloof from the conflict. But the policy of the Whigs and 
Liberals, who have governed England, with a brief interval, for fifteen 



878 the world's crisis. 

years, is no indication of the Tory policy. The "Whigs represented 
the commercial interest, whose policy is peace and traffic. Their 
alliance with the Liberals, also, placed them in a nugatory position. 
The Liberals sympathized with Progress, and would not suffer the 
British government to take any step to its prejudice. The Liberals 
have ruled England for ten years. Every administration has been 
compelled to court their support, and yield to their influence. The 
Liberals held England in a neutral position, while Napoleon drove 
Austria out of Lombardy. The Liberals prevented the government 
from ordering the British cruisers to intercept the expedition of 
Garibaldi against the king of Naples. That the Whigs were in- 
fluenced by no sympathy with the popular cause, is evident from the 
fact that, when Garibaldi visited England, two years ago, to tender 
in person his thanks for the sympathy of the nation with the cause 
of Italy, Mr. Gladstone, the most liberal member of the Whig minis- 
try, requested him to leave the country, on the ground that his pres- 
ence was embarrassing to the government. The predilections of the 
Whigs incline them to sympathize with the existing status. They 
are merchants, and desire peace and traffic ; they are bankers, and 
have immense sums loaned to the existing governments ; they are 
conservative, and deprecate revolution ; they are aristocrats, and 
sympathize with power against population. Their predilections have 
been neutralized by their alliance with the Liberals. This coalition 
produced the equilibrium of opposing forces, and compelled the gov- 
ernment to adopt the shuffling policy of friend of both parties, busy 
in endeavoring to keep the peace, but standing aloof from committal 
to either side. In pursuit of this policy, England has been over- 
whelmed with humiliation, until the nation is eager to engage in a 
war for any or no cause, so that it may erase the stains from the 
national escutcheon. 

The attitude of England during the past few years has not arisen 
from a decay of the national spirit, but from the fact that the parties 
that ruled the country, by coalition, mutually neutralized each other. 
But the Tory policy is not neutral. Their sympathies are positive 
and fixed. They are allied to Absolutism, by common traditions and 
a common interest. Their power in England is insecure, and must 
fall, ere long, before the encroachments of the Liberals, unless their 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND. 379 

position is fortified by a strong reaction abroad in favor of Abso- 
lutism. They know this, and in self-defense, will exert all their 
power to give success to the common cause. The warmer the sym- 
pathy of the English people with popular movements abroad, the 
more urgent the necessity of the Nobility acting efficiently to sup- 
press movements on the Continent, whose success must be disastrous 
to their political interests. 

Already, we see indications of the change of policy the Tories 
are effecting. Since they came into power, the alliance with France 
against Absolutism is ended. Already, the Tory organs have opened 
a storm of abuse upon Napoleon, and are gratulating over the suc- 
cesses of Prussia, which power they declare will, in future, constitute 
a counterbalance to French influence in Europe. The shuffling 
neutrality of England is ended. The Tories will adopt a consistent 
and vigorous foreign policy. They will quietly place England on 
the side of the despotic Powers, and when the contest comes, they 
will, if necessary, throw the whole power of Britain into the scale, 
and combat in favor of despotism, as ardently as in 1793. 



Note. — This chapter was finished, as above, in September 
1866. The course of events, in England, has demonstrated the 
justice of the course of thought presented. The Tories have sub- 
mitted to Parliament a Reform Bill, designed to consolidate the 
political power of the Nobility. In its passage through Parliament, 
the extension of the franchise was made much broader than the 
Tory leaders at first intended. Still, the Bill was under the control 
of the Tories, throughout, and its evident tendency, as a whole, is to 
increase their power and that of the Liberals, while it cuts down the 
power of the Whigs so materially, as to endanger the existence of 
their party organization. If the Whigs maintain an efficient party 
organization, in future, they must do it by dint of bribery. The 
Tories are the rulers of England for years to come, and the Liberals 
will, in future, be their chief antagonists. 

But the Tories have, in this Reform Bill, planted the germ of 
future danger to the Aristocracy. So great an extension of the 
franchise must end, sooner or later, in placing the government 



880 the world's crisis. 

in the hands of the Liberals. At some time or other, political 
agitation will run so high that the Nobility cannot control the peas- 
antry. The Liberals have the voters, now, who can place them in 
power. It only remains to fan the flame of excitement. We may 
expect intense agitation, having for its object to inflame the minds 
of the voters to such a pitch as to make them throw off the yoke of 
aristocratic influence. 

This agitation will be full of danger to the Tories. It must 
eventually succeed. The danger will fill the Tories with alarm. 
The triumph of the Liberals is the downfall of the Nobility. Will 
not the Nobility struggle fiercely for the maintainance of their power? 

Absolutism and Progress are engaged in a death struggle on the 
Continent of Europe. The triumph of Progress will hasten the 
success of the English Liberals. The only hope of the English No- 
bility lies in the success of Absolutism, abroad. 

The Reform Bill, while it secures their present power, is full of 
future danger, to avert which the Tories will, by every possible 
means, further the aims of Absolutism on the Continent of Europe.] 



CHAPTER II. 

POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 

Within the last twenty years, a succession of tempests have dark- 
ened the political heavens of Europe. Indeed, a state of continual 
disquiet has prevailed, ever since the French Revolution of 1789. 
The seething cauldron has never slept. Agitation has sometimes 
sunk into troubled slumberings, only to be roused again into starts 
of revolutionary violence. But, since 1848, Europe has been kept 
in a state of sleepless agitation, by one or another of the elements 
of disturbance seething in perpetual unrest in its political system. 

Sect. I. — General Statement. 
There are three disquieting elements in the European political 
system. But the active elements of disturbance may be reduced to 
two, — the ambition of monarchs ; and the aspiration of nationalities 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 381 

after unity and independence. The third, — aspirations after politi- 
cal liberty — need not now be noted, since it is, at present, too feeble 
to exert much influence anywhere, except in England. 

Let us note more particularly these disturbing elements. 

The first is the ambition and mutual jealousy of the five great 
Powers, — Russia, Prussia, Austria, France, and England. Their 
mutual jealousy has given rise to a tacit compact among them, to 
combine against any one of the number that threatens to gain a 
decisive ascendancy. 

Wars to maintain the Balance of Power have hitherto been the 
chief occasions of European strife. Indeed, the history of Europe 
for the last three hundred years may be termed a series of wars 
waged for the maintenance of the Balance of Power. When the 
nations emerged from feudalism, just before the Reformation of the 
sixteenth century, they were, for the first time, in a condition to 
enter upon a career of ambition. Ever since that period, some one 
or another of them has been meditating an ambitious career, from 
which the others combined to drive it back. First, Spain, emulous 
of the grandeur of Charles V., aspired to an eminence inconsistent 
with the general safety ; and Europe was watching and countering 
the ambition of Spain, long after the nation ceased to be formidable. 
Next, the House of Austria had to be beaten back, by a coalition of 
France and Sweden with the Protestant states of Germany. Next, 
France under Louis XIV. made the Continent tremble ; and a co- 
alition of England, Holland, and Austria, was necessary to humble 
its power. Then, England, by its maritime conquests and growing 
colonies, awakened jealousy ; and France, Spain, and Holland com- 
bined, to aid the American Colonies in their struggle for indepen- 
dence. Next, France again, under Napoleon, entered upon the 
career of conquest ; and Europe combined against the conqueror, 
and drove him from his throne. Finally, Russia undertook to annex 
Turkey, as a step in the road to India and maritime greatness ; and 
England and France laid aside their former enmity, to repulse the 
Autocrat from his prey. 

The Great Powers of Europe are all jealous of each other. Eu- 
rope dreads France ; Europe fears Russia ; Europe is jealous of the 



382 THE world's crisis. 

maritime supremacy of Great Britain, and her monopoly of wealth 
and trade. Perhaps Austria is the only one of the five Great Powers 
that has foregone ambition ; it is content to maintain its present po- 
sition, and guard against menacing ruin. 

Europe, however, would have little to fear from the ambition of 
any of the Great Powers, were this the only source of danger. The 
system of maintaining the Balance of Power is reduced to a science; 
a coalition might easily restrain the ambition of any single state. 
The ambition of sovereigns is chiefly dangerous through the aid am- 
bition derives from the peculiar political condition of the European 
states. 

The danger most threatening to the peace of Europe has arisen 
from the dissatisfaction and restlessness of Nationalities. 

The question of the Nationalities is little understood on this side 
of the Atlantic. Our journals have derived their views of European 
affairs from the British press : upon this question, silence has, for 
years, been the policy of English politicians ; and the British press 
never goes in advance of the party leaders. Austria and Prussia, 
like England, have desired to taboo the subject. France alone of 
the Great Powers has nothing to dread, but much to gain from the 
agitation of the question ; yet prudential reasons have caused Napo- 
leon to desire that it should slumber, as far as possible ; and he has 
discouraged its discussion by the French press. The question of 
Nationalities has been a prohibited subject in Europe. It has occu- 
pied the minds of statesmen, — but as a vision of terror ; they avoid 
its mention, as the peasant abroad at night fears to name the Evil 
One, lest the sound may invoke his presence. 

We will endeavor to present this important, yet somewhat obscure 
question, in such a light as that it may be comprehended in all its 
bearings. 

Let the reader take a map of Europe, published fifteen or twenty 
years ago, and count the states there laid down. They are, 

1. Portugal; 

2. Spain; 

3. France ; 

4. Holland; 

5. Belgium; 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 383 

6. Austria; 

7. Prussia; 

8. The minor German states ; 

9. Switzerland; 

10. Denmark; 

11. Russia; 

12. Turkey; 

13. Britain — including Scotland and Ireland ; 

14. Sweden. 

Besides these, he will find Italy — divided among more than half 
a dozen states which do not deserve a rank among the European 
powers ; and Greece — too feeble to be counted. 

Mark, we do not call those states laid down on the map Nations, 
but Powers. Some of these Pow r ers are not nations, but are agglom- 
erations of different nations. Several of the nations of Europe do 
not appear on the map ; their territories being divided out among 
different sovereigns. Others are set down, indeed, but they have no 
national or political existence. 

A map of Europe delineating the nations of that quarter of the 
globe with their several boundaries, will present an appearance alto- 
gether different from one representing the existing Powers. It con- 
tains the following nations : — 

1. Portugal; 

2. Spain; 

3. France ; — but the French boundary is larger than at present, 

and runs up through Belgium to the Rhine ; 

4. Holland; 

5. Italy; 

6. Switzerland; 

7. Germany; 

8. Denmark; — but the Danish territory is diminished by the 

assignment of the southern part of the peninsula to Ger- 
many ; 

9. Hungary; 

10. Greece, — including the present Turkish dominions in Europe ; 

11. Poland; 

12. Russia; 



384 

13. Sweden ; 

14. Great Britain, — including with England, Wales, whose na- 

tionality is merged in the conquering nation — and Scotland, 
which has entered. into a voluntary union; 

15. Ireland. 

How astonishing the change ! Six nations appear in this map 
which were not in the other, — Greece, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Ger- 
many, and Ireland. Three powers have entirely disappeared, — 
Turkey, Austria, and Prussia. Three nations have had their dimen- 
sions vastly curtailed, — Russia, Denmark, and Great Britain. Three 
nations only remain unchanged, — Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. 
Only two, — France and Sweden — have their boundaries enlarged. 

But why these changes? 

Why blot out Austria, Prussia, and Turkey, from the map of Eu- 
rope ? Because they are Powers, not nations. The Turks are not 
a nation, but a horde of warriors, who have conquered, and are now 
ruling, the Greeks of the old Greek empire. They are the rulers of 
the Greek nation. The country belongs to the Greeks. Expel the 
foreign rulers, and they at once become an independent nation, in 
possession of their own country. Neither Austria nor Prussia are 
nations. Neither has a foot of national territory. Every foot of 
Austrian territory belongs either to Italy, Hungary, Poland, or Ger- 
many. Restore those nations, and the Austrian power falls. All 
the territory of Prussia belongs to Germany and Poland. Austria 
and Prussia are kingdoms, not nations. The bond of union which 
holds their respective territories together is not national, but per- 
sonal. They belong to the monarch. Take the monarch away, and 
there is no tie to unite them. Those kingdoms are agglomerations 
of different peoples, who are subjects of the king. Unseat the king, 
and the different nations at once resolve themselves again into their 
national unity. 

The nationalities of Europe have been disparted and subjugated 
in every conceivable manner. In some instances, the nation is still 
united, but subjected to the yoke of an alien monarch ; as Hungary, 
to the emperor of Austria, Ireland, to England, and the Greek pop- 
ulation, to the Turks. In other instances, a nation is divided out 
among a number of sovereigns: thus Poland was divided between 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 385 

Russia, Prussia, and Austria; Italy, into a number of states, some 
subject to Austria, some to the Pope, others to various rulers; 
Germany, among no less than thirty-five different rulers, — some 
kings — some dukes — some Germans — some foreign sovereigns. In 
other instances, a nation still maintains its national existence, but 
provinces have been wrested from it, and annexed to another, by 
feudal inheritance, or by war : thus France lost its fairest province 
by feudal alienation ; and Sweden, the greater part of its territory, 
by Russian conquest. 

Of all these, the disparted nationalities are the most unfortunate. 
Hungary and Ireland maintain their national unity, though sub- 
jected to a foreign sovereign. But Germany, Italy, and Poland 
are divided : the national unity is destroyed ; people of the same 
nation and tongue, animated by the same sympathies, are sundered, 
and subjected to different rulers, who govern by different laws, direct 
their policy on different principles, and frequently, influenced by 
political antagonisms, assume a hostile attitude toward each other. 
Then, Italians are arrayed against Italians, Germans against Ger- 
mans, and Poles against Poles. 

This parceling out of nations was effected under the old regime, 
when rulers considered people and territory as their property, and 
settled boundaries, and transferred lands and people from one to 
another, as coolly as farmers will exchange stock. The human 
chattel of royalty had no political voice, and his royal master could 
transfer him at his will. But, in our age, new influences are at 
work. Mankind have learned something of their rights. Nations 
are no longer the contented chattels of a crown. Populations are 
demanding that the wrongs of the past shall be redressed. The 
Nationalities are forcing their grievances upon the attention of 
monarchs. 

The map of Europe cannot remain as it is. It must be read- 
justed. 

To attain a correct view of the question of Nationalities, it is 
necessary to note, 

1. The forces which brought Europe into its present condition ; 

25 



386 

2. The clashing forces now in antagonism, the one endeavoring 
to overthrow, the other to maintain the status of Absolutism. 

Sect. 2. — Causes which brought about the Present Condition 

of Europe. 

The, manner in which the kings of England established their do- 
minion over Ireland needs no explanation : British domination over 
Ireland was obtained by conquest, and it has been the rule of the 
sword ever since. The Turks, also, subdued the Greek empire, and 
held it by the right of the strongest ; the despots of Russia, Prussia, 
and Austria partitioned Poland; Italy was subjected to Germany, 
and parceled out among its various rulers, by the sword ; and Rus- 
sia has extended its boundaries, by conquests from Sweden, Poland, 
Turkey, and various barbarous tribes on its borders. 

But how happened Germany to be divided among so many differ- 
ent sovereigns ? Why is the finest province of France separated 
from the country ? Whence the rise of Austria and Prussia ? 

The germ of these complications must be sought in the circum- 
stances which attended the establishment of the Northern nations 
in the Roman Empire. Space will not permit any attempt to trace 
the gradual changes, through which the barbarism of Germany and 
the effete Roman civilization mingled, and slowly merged into the 
civilization of Modern Europe. Nor is this necessary to our present 
purpose. It is sufficient that we comprehend something of the ele- 
ments which, passing through the chaotic era of Feudalism, resolved 
themselves into the forms of social order that now exist. 

One thousand years ago, almost all Central and Western Europe 
was covered with the great empire of Charlemagne. A great part 
of the territory of this empire was divided into districts similar to 
the counties upon the maps of our own states. These districts were 
called counties or duchies, and were ruled by powerful nobles, — 
counts or dukes, — who held them as hereditary property. These 
nobles were sovereign over their respective districts, ruling their 
vassals with absolute power, while themselves subject to the mon- 
arch of the realm. The sovereign had no right to levy taxes upon 
the nobility, his revenues being chiefly derived from the crown 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUKOPE. 387 

lands, — territories which, in the general division of the conquered 
Roman provinces, had been allotted to the kings of the conquering 
races. The nobles were obliged to attend the monarch, in war, at 
the head of their vassals, for a certain number of days in a year. 
This military service was almost their sole duty; when it was ren- 
dered, nothing more could be exacted of them. 

This subordination of the feudal lords to the sovereign, and of the 
vassal population to the nobility, — termed the Feudal system, — was 
the germ of the institutions of Modern Europe. 

A mutual jealousy always existed between the crown and the 
feudal nobility. During the reign of Charlemagne, his firm hand 
kept the nobles in subjection to the royal authority. But after his 
death, under the feeble rule of his successors, this jealousy led to 
frequent collisions, — the kings endeavoring to maintain, and increase 
their royal supremacy ; the nobles striving to diminish their depend- 
ence upon the crown. 

The political condition in which Charlemagne left his empire, 
tended to excite this jealousy between crown and noble into active 
collision. His empire was divided among his children. France and 
Germany became separate nations, — Germany assuming the rank 
of empire and having the Italian conquests of Charlemagne finally 
annexed to it. Out of this division sprung long wars, in which the 
sovereigns were compelled to court the feudal nobility. Political 
necessity, and the extravagance and improvidence of successive 
monarchs, led to the gradual alienation of the crown lands, which 
were variously bestowed, upon favorites and military followers. 
With this diminution of the royal revenues, the sovereign authority 
declined, the power of the nobility increasing in the same ratio. 
They gradually diminished their dependence upon the crown, until 
they became almost entirely independent, exercising in their domains 
the authority of sovereign princes. 

It is necessary to remark particularly one of the means by which 
these feudal nobles increased their power. — Frequently the only 
child of a noble was a daughter, the heiress of his domains. Her 
marriage with a noble united both districts, which became the in- 
heritance of their heir. A succession of these marriages some- 
times united a great number of these districts under the sway of a 



388 the world's crisis. 

single noble, and rendered him even more powerful than the 
sovereign. By means of such marriages, many of the nobles were 
aggrandized, while the monarch was alienating the crown lands. 

In France, the royal authority gradually declined until it sunk 
into contempt ; the last weak king of the line of Charlemagne gave 
way to Hugh Capet, one of the great French dukes, who mounted 
the throne and founded a new dynasty. The kings of the house of 
Capet had the advantage of grafting the monarch upon the noble. 
They had the power of their feudal domains, to assist in maintaining 
the royal dignity. They alienated no crown territory ; on the con- 
trary, they enlarged their ducal domains by marrying heiresses of 
the great nobility. At first, however, their authority was very feeble. 
They waged war and made treaties with the nobles whose domains 
lay adjacent to their own feudal inheritance, very much on equal 
terms. The more distant nobles of France paid little attention to 
the royal authority. Gradually, however, the Capets extended their 
power ; compelling one after another of the great vassals to bow to 
their authority. 

At this juncture occurred the most important event of the era, — 
an event destined to exert a controlling influence upon the course 
of history. William duke of Normandy, one of the great French 
vassals, achieved the conquest of England, about fifty years after 
the accession of the Capetian dynasty to the throne of France. 
This accession of power rendered the dukes of Normandy more 
powerful than their feudal sovereigns, the kings of France. Per- 
petual wars were waged between them. The dukes of Normandy 
added vastly to their French possessions, by marriage with the heirs 
of other duchies. Matilda, granddaughter of the 'Conqueror, married 
Geoffry Plantagenet, ducal sovereign of two counties, Anjou and 
Touraine. Her son Henry, in consequence, besides the English 
crown, was lord of four French provinces. He married Eleanor of 
Aquitaine, who, through various intermarriages of her ancestors, 
was heiress of the provinces of Guienne, Poitou, Santogne, Auvergne, 
Perigord, Angoumois, and the Limousin. The union of his inher- 
ited domains with those acquired by his marriage made Henry lord 
over nearly half of France. Leaving out of view his English king- 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 389 

dom, he was much more powerful than the French monarch ; for, as 
feudal lord, his territories were completely under his control, while 
many of the vassals of the king of France lent him but a cold 
assistance. 

Yet the consolidation of the royal authority, in France, grew out 
of the struggle of the French sovereigns with the Plantagenets. 
It rallied the other noble houses of France around the throne ; and, 
though driven to the most unworthy intrigues against the great 
Henry, the French monarch, in the next generation, wrested from 
the weak hands of John of England almost all his French dukedoms, 
and annexed them to the French crown. This accession of territory 
added greatly to the power of the kings of France, and enabled 
them to attain a decided ascendancy over the nobles of the realm. 
From this period, the crown advanced rapidly in its ascendancy 
over the feudal nobles, until, in the reign of Louis XL, about fifty- 
years before the Reformation of the sixteenth century, it achieved 
a final triumph. That monarch completely humbled the great no- 
bility, and left France to his successor a united monarchy under the 
absolute sway of the crown. 

In stating that Louis XL humbled the power of the feudal nobility, 
one important exception must be made. Charles the Bold, duke of 
Burgundy, was too powerful for the French monarch to subdue. By 
marriage and inheritance, the dukes of Burgundy had acquired 
various provinces of the Low countries (now Holland and Belgium), 
and united them to their patrimonial duchy. Several of these pro- 
vinces, — as Flanders, Hainault, and Guelders, occupying the terri- 
tory now known as Belgium, and stretching to the Rhine, — were the 
feudal dependencies of France. Louis XL anxiously sought to main- 
tain his supremacy over these national domains. But Charles the 
Bold held his feudal dependence lightly ; and he was too powerful 
to be coerced by the French monarch. The death of Charles in 
battle with the Swiss relieved Louis from a dangerous dilemma; and, 
as the deceased duke left no heirs except a daughter, Mary of Burg- 
undy, the French king seized upon Burgundy as a male fief. Though 
Burgundy thus reverted to the French crown, Mary was still 
possessed of the rich Flemish provinces, and was the greatest heiress 
of the age. The House of Austria, ever eager in quest of feudal 



390 the world's crisis. 

heiresses, could not overlook this fortunate occasion ; Maximilian of x 
Austria, son of the Emperor of Germany, married her, and added 
the Low Countries to the feudal possessions of his family. In this 
manner were lost to France the fairest provinces of the kingdom. 
Thus, in France, the Feudal System terminated in the consolida- 
tion of the monarchy. The royal authority was firmly established 
over the feudal nobility. France emerged from the feudal chaos, a 
great and united nation, — but weakened by the loss of her richest and 
most important frontier provinces. 

Of the political condition of England, it is at present sufficient to 
remark that, owing to the manner in which the Conqueror divided 
out the English lands among his followers, the feudal nobility of 
England never became so powerful as those of France. The wars 
of the Roses completely broke the power of the feudal barons ; in 
the age of the French king, Louis XL, the English monarchs, gov- 
erning by means of parliaments, dominated the nobility with a power 
as absolute as that of the French sovereign. 

In England and France, the Feudal struggle between the crown 
and the nobles terminated in the triumph of the former, leaving 
those countries consolidated nations. 

In Germany, Feudalism ran a different course. The German 
emperors struggled in vain, to maintain their authority over the 
powerful nobles of the empire. The same causes which induced the 
decline of the Carlovingian dynasty in France, operated a similar 
result in Germany. There, as in France, the power of the feudal 
noble was brought to reinforce the feeble royal authority ; but the 
act which reinforced Imperialism, ever after prevented the consoli- 
dation of the imperial authority, and placed the crown at the mercy 
of the nobility. The line of Charlemagne having failed, the nobility 
elected one of their own number to the imperial dignity. Hence- 
forth, the Emperors were elected; at first, by the assembled nobility 
of the empire ; afterward, by seven nobles, who engrossed this func- 
tion and became known as Electors. The character of the empire 
as an elective monarchy, together with the ceaseless Italian wars in 
which the emperors expended their resources, prevented the con- 
solidation of the Imperial authority. The Popes, assailed in Italy 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 391 

by the Emperors, retaliated by exciting commotions in Germany. 
Civil contentions and Italian campaigns so far weakened the Impe- 
rial resources, as to enable the feudal nobility of Germany to con- 
solidate their authority into a recognized sovereignty over their 
respective domains, free from the control or interference of the 
emperor; who could neither impose taxes upon them, nor interfere 
with the internal administration of their territories. They became, 
in fact, sovereign princes in every sense of the word. They ac- 
knowledged a kind of feudal superiority in the emperor ; they were 
under obligation to arm in the common defense, and follow his ban- 
ner in war ; but they did this as confederated princes, for the pro- 
tection of the empire of which they were a part, rather than as the 
inferiors or subjects of the emperor. 

Thus, in Germany, the Feudal System ultimated in the triumph 
of the feudal princes over the royal authority. The imperial dig- 
nity fell into contempt, the emperor possessing only the shadow of 
power. The princes of the empire were sovereigns over their re- 
spective territories ; the empire became a confederation of sovereign 
states. In some instances, intermarriages united several of these 
states under one prince, who became a powerful sovereign in the 
empire. In other instances, by the intermarriage of the heir with 
foreign rulers, German states became dependencies upon foreign 
crowns. In the end, the German nation became divided among a 
number of sovereigns, some of native birth, others foreign rulers. 

Out of this principle of the Feudal System, the royal houses of 
Austria and Prussia took their rise. Both are feudal sovereigns, 
ruling an agglomeration of territories united by no national tie, but 
simply owing obedience to the monarch as their feudal lord. 

Let us trace, in the first instance, the rise of the House of Austria. 

In the middle of the 13th century, the power of the German em- 
peror had so far fallen into contempt, that an interregnum of twenty 
years ensued, during which Germany had no emperor. At length, 
the Electors chose as emperor Rodolph of Hapsburg, an obscure 
Swiss baron, having too little power to excite the jealousy of the 
powerful nobles. Rodolph was the founder of the House of Austria. 

He introduced a new imperial programme. Former emperors 



392 the world's crisis. 

had employed the power of their feudal domains to maintain the 
imperial authority. He determined, on the contrary, to make the 
imperial dignity auxiliary to the advancement of the feudal interests 
of his family. An occasion soon offered to carry out his policy. 
The duke of Austria died without male heirs : the king of Bohemia 
claimed the duchy in right of his wife, heiress of the deceased duke ; 
but Kodolph set up a pretended claim, seized the dukedom, and 
conferred it upon his son Albert, — and thus founded the House of 
Austria. 

Albert was chosen Emperor of Germany, and the House of Aus- 
tria continued, almost without interruption, to fill the imperial office 
for three hundred years. The dukes of Austria were wiser than 
their predecessors in the imperial chair. They did not seek power 
by aggrandizing the imperial office ; but, carrying out the policy of 
Kodolph, they used the imperial dignity to advance their interests 
as feudal princes. They sought by matrimonial alliances to add 
other duchies to their own : they were constantly on the watch for 
heiresses of ducal domains. Principally by a series of fortunate 
marriages, they successively added to the duchy of Austria the Ger- 
man principalities of Bohemia, Moravia, Styria, Tyrol, Carinthia, 
Carniola ; and, outside of Germany, the kingdom of Hungary, sev- 
eral of the Italian states, and (as we have already seen) the Low 
Countries. The further marriages, by which they annexed Spain, 
and narrowly missed obtaining possession of England, need not be 
mentioned, owing to the division of territory that subsequently oc- 
curred between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the family. 

By this series of marriages, the duke of Austria became the most 
powerful prince of the German Empire. He was, however, only the 
peer of the other princes. His German dominions were all portions 
of the empire, just as theirs. He was usually elected emperor of 
Germany ; but his rank as Emperor was entirely distinct from his 
position as a prince of the empire. Any other German prince was 
equally eligible to that office ; and in the event of the election of 
another, the Austrian duke would rank only as the most powerful 
of the feudal nobles of Germany. 

The House of Austria continued to rule its scattered possessions 
down to the period of the French Revolution, but without being able 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 393 

to merge them into a consolidated nationality. It then lost its 
provinces in the Low countries, leaving its dominions restricted to 
Hungary, part of Poland, and its German and Italian states. 

We turn our attention to the rise of the royal house of Prussia. 

Brandenburg is one of the seven electoral states of Germany. 
The Margraves of Brandenburg never made an important figure in 
the history of Germany, until the close of the seventeenth century. 
Then, the accession of Frederic William, the Great Elector, proved 
an era in the annals of his house. His dominions comprised only 
the German marquisate of Brandenburg, and the Poland duchy of 
Prussia ; but his able rule elevated the house of Brandenburg to an 
influence it had never known before, and laid the foundation of its 
subsequent greatness. His successor was ambitious of the royal 
dignity, and, to obtain it, seconded earnestly the policy of the Im- 
perial House of Austria in a war with France. The Austrian sov- 
ereign supposing it a magnificent stroke of policy to establish a 
kingdom in Northern Germany as an equipoise to France, conferred 
the royal title upon the elector of Brandenburg, naming his king- 
dom after the Polish duchy of Prussia. 

It soon appeared that the Prussian sovereigns were far more jeal- 
ous of Austria than of France. Their German possessions were of 
greater extent than those of any other German prince except the 
Duke of Austria. Ranking second in the empire, Prussia began to 
aspire to the first place. Frederic the Great, grandson of the first 
Prussian king, wrested Silesia from Austria; and, afterward, just 
before the French Revolution, arranged with Russia and Austria the 
partition of Poland. 

Up to this period, sovereigns ruled their dominions with absolute 
sway. They partitioned nations out among themselves, according 
to the dictates of ambition or caprice. They acted as absolute 
owners of the territories under their rule. Lands and people were 
heritable property. War, marriage, and treaty, severed populations 
from their proper relations, and consigned them to the ownership 
of new lords, uniting them to foreign, perhaps hostile countries. 
While the populations had no voice in political events, national 
boundaries were utterly disregarded by potentates. The authority 



394 the world's crisis. 

of the king was the central point of government; the unity of 
nations was left altogether out of view. At the commencement of 
the French Revolution, the severance of national ties had reached 
its culmination. Henceforth, the impulse of the populations was 
felt, aspiring to regain their lost nationality. 

Sect. 3. — Forces in Conflict to Overthrow, and to Maintain 
the Old Order of Things. 

The French Revolution inaugurated a new era. In denying the 
divine right of monarchs to reign and partition out peoples and ter- 
ritories at their pleasure, proclaiming the right of the people to 
self-government, it assailed the fundamental principle of Abso- 
lutism. It ushered in an era of conflict between Absolutism and 
Progress, which has, thus far, been waged with varying success, and 
which must continue, until one or the other shall achieve a definite 
triumph. The struggle, thus far, has passed through three epochs ; 
it now seems approaching a crisis, in which Absolutism threatens 
to achieve a decisive predominance. 

I. First Epoch: Wars op the French Revolution. 

The new doctrines of the French Revolution, the gift of America 
to Europe, filled the monarchs of the old world with dismay. They 
banded together, to stifle the movement in the cradle, and prevent 
its leavening the minds of their subjects. The despots of Central 
and Eastern Europe resolved, as the surest means of suppressing 
republican doctrines, to partition the territory of France after the 
manner of Poland. Of all the enemies of the French Revolution, 
the Tory government of England was the most embittered and per- 
sistent ; the more from the warm sympathy of the English people 
with the movement. 

France was deluged with armies on every side. But the enthu- 
siastic French soldiery overwhelmed the generals of the potentates, 
commanding troops indifferent to the cause for which they fought. 
The invading columns were repulsed : Napoleon appeared the scourge 
of monarchs: he appealed to the national feeling in Italy, which had 
slumbered for ages: he proclaimed himself the avenger of nations 
against despots who disregarded their rights : his arms extended the 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 395 

principles of the revolution through Europe. But, at length, his 
ambitious career brought him into antagonism with the rights of 
nations. He embraced the old axiom of Absolutism, that territories 
and peoples belong to crowns ; he began, himself, to enslave and dis- 
member nations, becoming the greatest despot of them all. Mon- 
archs endeavored to resist him, by wars waged in accordance with 
the principles of Absolutism; — but in vain : in despair, they appealed 
to the principles of the French Revolution, and aroused the national 
impulses of their subjects against the Conqueror. From that moment, 
the star of Napoleon waned. He was hurled from his throne by the 
enthusiasm of roused populations. This movement of the nations 
fixed the idea of national rights in their minds too deeply to be 
eradicated. The sovereigns had raised a spirit they could not lay. 
Henceforth, deep in the hearts of disparted and trampled nations 
smoldered longing aspirations after lost nationality, only waiting the 
breath of revolution to fan them into flame. 

II. Second Epoch: The Rule of Absolutism from 1815 to 1848. 

The monarchs were aware of the powerful emotions that had been 
summoned into existence ; but, in the moment of victory, they relied 
upon force, to suppress any discontents of the people. They re- 
adjusted the map of Europe, by the treaties of 1815, treating nations 
as property to be distributed at the will of the royal owners. The 
Bourbons were re-established in France. Germany was divided 
afresh, and partitioned out as the congress of sovereigns deemed 
the various German princes merited punishment or reward ; 
Prussia, especially, with the countenance of Russian diplomacy, re- 
ceived large accessions of territory, at the expense of various princes 
who had allied themselves with Napoleon. Several Italian states 
were given to Austria, of which Lombardy and Venetia were the 
most valuable ; and a number of Hapsburg princes received "duchies 
in Italy, to be held by them in dependence upon the Austrian crown. 
The Neapolitan states were again assigned to the Bourbon king of 
Naples. The partition of Poland was confirmed. Belgium was 
annexed to Holland, as a precautionary measure, to prevent the 
possibility of its being ever annexed to France; its territory 



396 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

belonging of right to that nation, and its reannexation being, from the 
age of Louis XIV, the cherished aim of French ambition. 

It was the triumph of Absolutism. 

In the treaties of 1815, the despots of Europe threw down the 
gauntlet to the new ideas of the age. In subduing France, and 
restoring the Bourbons as to their rightful inheritance, they issued 
a declaration of irreconcilable enmity to the principle of popular 
rights : in repartitioning Europe at the arbitrary will of kings, they 
proclaimed their contempt for the rights of nationalities. It was 
necessary to adopt some measures, to maintain the high stand they 
had assumed. They found themselves face to face with an antag- 
onistic element, whose triumph would overturn their thrones. It 
was for the time suppressed ; but there was every probability of 
French ideas breaking forth, again, at the first favorable opportunity. 
They resolved to keep them down by force of arms ; to that end, 
the council of sovereigns deemed it necessary to come to an explicit 
understanding among themselves respecting their future policy. A 
secret compact, termed the Holy Alliance, was formed, for the pur- 
pose of maintaining the rights of kings against populations. This 
treaty was signed by Prussia, Russia, and Austria; the plenipo- 
tentiaries of the British government and the restored Bourbons ap- 
proved it, but deemed it best, owing to the popular sentiment at 
home, not to become actual parties to the instrument. In the Holy 
Alliance, the sovereigns agreed to mutually assist each other against 
their subjects, and to unite their forces for the suppression of all 
popular movements in Europe. 

In this Holy Alliance, the European monarchs crouched beneath 
the mantle of Russia, for protection against French principles. 
Russia became the equipoise of the French nation in the European 
political system. 

The Czar, from the necessity of his position, is the champion of 
Absolutism. He is sovereign of immense territories, peopled by 
different races, — Finns, Russians, Poles, Cossacks, and Tartars, — 
whose sole bond of union is subjection to the Russian crown. His 
throne is based upon Absolutism. His power could not stand for a 
year, if the principle of Nationality prevailed abroad. Were the 
rest of Europe to overturn the feudal monarchies, when the divided 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 397 

nations regained their unity and independence, the impulse of na- 
tionality would spread to Russia, overturn the throne, and dismem- 
ber the empire into its national elements. The Czar is aware of 
this ; it is his policy to maintain the feudal monarchies of Central 
Europe, against the outbreaks of the restless Nationalities. 

He is incited to this policy by ambition, also. Russia aspires to 
universal dominion. It is an hereditary ambition. Peter the Great, 
in his celebrated will, marked out the policy his successors should 
pursue, in order to attain this object. This career of ambition is 
open to Russia, while the Nationalities are writhing beneath feudal 
thrones ; but the establishment of the Nationalities in independence 
closes it forever. 

From 1815 to 1848, Europe reposed beneath the shadow of Rus- 
sia. The Czar occupied the only stable throne ; and the Bourbons, 
the Hapsburgs, the Hohenzollerns, the feudal monarchs of Central 
and Western Europe, leaned upon his power. 

But the new ideas engrafted in the hearts of the nations continued 
to grow and expand. In 1830, the French people again rose in 
revolution, and expelled the Bourbon dynasty which had been re- 
stored in 1815. Inspired by the example of France, the Poles rose 
in arms to regain their lost independence ; Belgium threw off the 
yoke of the sovereign imposed by the monarchs, and declared its 
independence of Holland. 

But Absolutism maintained its prestige. The rising in Poland 
was promptly suppressed ; the Belgians, awed by the Great Powers, 
agreed to accept a sovereign of their choice ; and the French nation, 
to propitiate the leagued despots, placed a Bourbon upon the throne 
from which a Bourbon was expelled. The influence of Russia again 
prevailed; Absolutism asserted its predominance. 

For eighteen years more, the new ideas continued to slumber, 
cradled in the popular heart. Meantime, the sovereigns, aware of 
the existence of danger ready at any moment to burst forth with 
revolutionary violence, clung closer to the protection of Russia. 



398 THE world's crisis. 

IIL Third Epoch : The Successful Aggression of French Progressive Ideas, 

from 1848 to 1866. 

1st. First Period: the Revolutionary Outburst. 

In 1848, the French again rose in revolution, dethroned the Bour- 
bons, and proclaimed a Republic. Instantly the impulse flashed 
through Europe. Germany was in commotion ; Ireland attempted 
to revolt from British rule ; Italy rose in revolution ; Hungary 
threw off the Austrian yoke, and declared its independence. The 
Czar was overwhelmed by the revolutionary outburst. So far from 
attempting to carry out the stipulations of the Holy Alliance, he 
quailed before the storm, and crouched behind his own frontiers. 
Drawing a military cordon around his borders, to protect his own 
dominions from the revolutionary contagion, he left Austria and 
Prussia to breast the storm as best they might. 

A bold movement on the part of France, at that juncture, might 
have readjusted the map of Europe. The populations were every- 
where ripe for revolution, and only needed a head. Had the French 
Republic issued a declaration in favor of the Nationalities, the whole 
of Central Europe would have burst into a revolutionary flame ; the 
Austrian and Prussian thrones must have fallen ; and Germany, Po- 
land, Italy, and Hungary would have regained their lost nationality. 
The whole question, so full of danger to Liberty, so pregnant of 
possibilities for reaction in favor of Absolutism, would have been 
settled forever ; leaving no danger in the future of a combination 
between despots, to conquer Europe and the world. The nations 
might all have fallen back, as did France, into the arms of mon- 
archy; but it would have been liberal, constitutional monarchy, rest- 
ing, not on divine right, but the will of the people, — the national 
monarchy of independent nations. Europe might thenceforth have 
had peace. The colossal armies now employed by despots to hold 
trampled and disparted nations in subjection, and to guard against 
each other's ambition, might have been disbanded. Monarchs, rec- 
ognizing the people as their constituents, and governing in accord- 
ance with their will expressed by representatives freely elected, need 
no armies to support their thrones ; and the balance of power would 
be sufficiently maintained by the equal strength of the various na- 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 399 

tions, and by the universal recognition of the right of a nation to 
choose its own government. Then industry, relieved from the drain 
of conscription and the pressure of taxation, would soon have ush- 
ered in a prosperity hitherto unknown. The nations would have 
moved onward in a career of progress, only emulous of social, indus- 
trial, and political advancement, — an undeviating career, eventually 
culminating in universal freedom. As the nations ripened in intel- 
ligence and republican thought, thrones would have peacefully fallen, 
like mellow fruit from the boughs of autumn. 

And events would have taken this course had America occupied 
the position we might have attained, even then, by using properly 
the advantages God and Nature had given. Had we, instead of 
England, been queen of the seas, or, had we been able to counter- 
balance the English navy and English loans, the French Republi- 
cans would have chosen the bold course, and led the nations on to 
freedom. 

But England was already far advanced in the career of commer- 
cial grandeur our course had opened to her. Her sails covered 
every sea, and the wealth of the world was pouring into her coffers 
in a golden stream. The sympathies of the English government 
were in favor of the established Powers, and against revolution. 
The influence of Britain in that hour of crisis overawed the French 
Republic. 

France could not head the march of freedom, nor strike a blow 
for the rights of man. Money is the sinews of modern war, and 
France was penniless : the Republic feared to enter again, as in 
1793, into a contest with despotisms backed by British loans and 
British fleets. The French republicans adopted the course the pre- 
dominance and hostility of Britain forced upon them : they pro- 
claimed neutrality between the monarchs and the people, leaving 
each nation to determine its own political destiny. They, no doubt, 
believed that, in thus securing British neutrality also, they were 
best subserving the interests of the nationalities in their struggle 
with the crowns. But British neutrality was not secured. The 
government, true, held aloof; but British gold, the sinews of the 
nation's power, was poured out in a stream, to strengthen the des- 
pots, and enable them to equip armies against the national move- 



400 the world's crisis. 

ments. On the other hand, the patriots, left to their own unguided 
impulses, without the nucleus French armies would have afforded, 
frittered away their advantages without concerted action. The 
German people, after crushing their sovereigns, temporized with 
them, and were soothed with promises that were not intended to he 
kept; Russia, recovering from her panic, and strengthened with 
British loans, placed her armed heel upon Poland, and aided Austria 
to subdue the Hungarian patriots ; England suppressed the Irish 
movement ; Austria, with recovered strength, assailed and crushed 
Italy. After a brief convulsion, Central Europe was forced back, 
by means of English subsidies, into its former condition. 

Thanks to England, Absolutism regained its ascendant. The 
feudal Powers replaced their yoke firmly upon the necks of the sub- 
jected and disparted nations. 

But the revolutions of 1848 were not fruitless. France was free : 
the Bourbons, reinstated by foreign bayonets, in 1814, were ex- 
pelled ; the majesty of the nation was vindicated against Absolutist 
principles. France had trampled upon the treaties of 1815; and, 
though suppressed elsewhere, national aspirations continued to 
smolder in the hearts of the nations. Italy, and Germany, and 
Hungary, and Poland, and Ireland, still continued to long for their 
lost nationality. Henceforth, the struggle between the principles 
of Nationality and Absolutism must continue, until one or the other 
achieve a final triumph. 

The French Republic ran its brief career, and terminated in the ele- 
vation of a Bonaparte to the imperial throne. The event proved that 
France is not ripe for republicanism ; though it has reached a point 
of advancement which places it in irreconcilable antagonism with 
Absolutist principles. Napoleon III. became emperor in opposition 
to the treaties of 1815 which restored the Bourbons. His elevation 
was a triumph of the principles of nationality, a declaration of the 
right of each people to determine their own form of government, in 
opposition to the principles of Absolutism, which make the people 
the property of monarchs. Napoleon, in virtue of his imperial dig- 
nity, is pledged to the cause of nationalities. His throne is founded 
on a nation's choice. He recognizes the fact in all his public acts. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 401 

He heads his proclamations, " Napoleon III., by the grace of God, 
and the will of the French people." When the Opposition in the 
French Chambers has grown violent, his ministers have stated that 
the emperor acknowledges the French people as his constituency, 
and recognizes his obligation to abdicate, if the people who elevated 
him demand it. But they further stated, that the imperial govern- 
ment would not fall without a struggle; that it would recommend 
itself, in every possible way, to the popular favor, and meet its op- 
ponents upon their own ground in courting the good will of the 
nation. This declaration embodies the principles which govern the 
imperial administration. Napoleon is emperor, to carry out the 
ideas of the French nation, and to administer the government in 
accordance with their will. 

Upon his accession, two distinct ideas committed Napoleon to 
the championship of the rights of Nationalities, — necessity, and 
ambition. 

In the first place, he was compelled to adopt this policy, in order 
to maintain his throne against Absolutist principles abroad, and 
revolutionary tendencies at home. 

The French empire is established upon principles adverse to the 
other crowns of Europe. The Absolutist principles which maintain 
other monarchs upon their thrones against the wishes of their people, 
would dethrone Napoleon, and re-establish the Bourbons. On the 
other hand, the principle of national consent upon which the Napo- 
leonic dynasty is founded, would give independence to Hungary and 
Ireland, and nationality to Italy, Germany, and Poland. 

But furthermore : the French emperor has not only to defend 
himself against reactionary principles abroad, but against progressive 
revolutionary tendencies at home. The French people idolize him 
as the representative and vindicator of the principles of the French 
revolution, against the Absolutist principles of foreign monarchs. 
They are indoctrinated by the national historians with the belief that 
it is the destiny of France to champion the principles of the Revo- 
lution. They glory in the success of the First Napoleon while he 
represented the Revolution, and moralize upon his fall, as occasioned 
by his apostacy from freedom. The least symptom of turning aside 
26 



402 the world's crisis. 

from his policy, to coalesce with foreign potentates, would cost Na- 
poleon III. his popularity. Instead of leading French opinion, he 
would suffer it to leave him behind; when he might expect the fate 
of Louis Phillippe. Napoleon's position necessarily renders him the 
opponent of Absolutism, and the champion of the oppressed Nation- 
alities of Europe. That he appreciated his position, and was pre- 
pared to accept its duties is evident from the significant, though 
guarded language of his celebrated Bordeaux address, in which he 
indicated the policy of the empire. "We have everywhere," he 
exclaimed, " ruins [Nationalities] to be raised, false gods [the prin- 
ciples of Absolutism] to pull down, and truths to make triumphant." 
This was his acceptance of the duties of his position. 

The ambition of Napoleon, also, has incited him to adopt this pro- 
gramme. Of the five great powers, France alone has nothing to fear, 
but much to hope from the triumph of the principle of nationality. 
That principle wrests Ireland from England, dismembers Russia, and 
destroys Austria and Prussia ; but it promises to France the re- 
annexation of the Flemish provinces, severed from the country three 
hundred years ago. Moreover, the championship of the movement 
confers upon Napoleon a position of commanding influence. It has 
made him the storm-king whom monarchs must court, — the iEolus 
imprisoning tempests whose unbridled fury would scatter in broken 
wrecks the feudal thrones. To this must be added the lofty fame 
success will give to him who shall liberate Europe from the domina- 
tion of Absolutism and the dread of Russian ascendancy. Napo- 
leon I. pronounced a great truth when he said Europe was destined 
to be either French or Cossack. He who should secure the ascend- 
ancy of liberal French principles, and thus save Europe from Rus- 
sian domination, would leave to history the loftiest name in the 
records of time. 

Thus France and Russia are the poles of European politics. Na- 
poleon and the Czar represent the extremes of Absolutism and Pro- 
gress. Absolutism menaces Napoleon with ruin, and promises the 
Czar security and universal dominion; Progress threatens Russia 
with downfall, and offers to Napoleon a most glorious career, and 
the loftiest niche in the temple of fame. Absolutism against Pro- 
gress, — France against Russia,— one or the other must fall. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 403 

2nd. Second Period : Napoleon Emerges from Isolation. 

The European sovereigns perceived, upon the accession of Napo- 
leon, that circumstances devolved upon him the championship of the 
Nationalities. They knew that he could only rule France by enter- 
ing upon a career that nattered the national pride ; and they watched 
his movements with dread. Their fears caused them to rally more 
firmly around Russia, as the champion of Absolutism, and the equi- 
poise of France. 

The policy of the sovereigns was plain. France must be isolated 
from the rest of Europe, and Napoleon debarred from all influence. 

In pursuance of this policy, the sovereigns treated the parvenu 
with cold and contemptuous aversion. The European press united 
in heaping derision and abuse upon him; by turns, charging him 
with the most towering schemes of ambition, and holding him up to 
scorn as a lucky simpleton. Foreign countries w T ere entertained 
with caricatures of his personal appearance, misrepresentation of 
his public acts, contemptuous estimates of his capacity, and taunts 
upon his utter want of influence in Europe. It was hoped, either 
that the endurance of these taunts and patient acquiescence in isola- 
tion, would beget a general contempt, depriving him of all influence 
with the Nationalities, and exposing him to the contempt of France, 
as a weak ruler who suffered the nation to be deprived of influence 
abroad ; or, that an impatient attempt to vindicate himself by a rash 
intervention in foreign politics, would give Europe an excuse for com- 
bining against him, not as the sovereign of France, but as a man dan- 
gerous to the public peace. The sovereigns seemed to have placed 
him in a dilemma where either alternative threatened him with ruin. 

But Napoleon was equal to the occasion. He realized the 
strength of his position, and knew he could afford to wait. He was 
strong in the affections of the French ; and Nationalities abroad 
looked upon him as their champion. The national idea was grow- 
ing stronger continually ; and every revolutionary tendency would 
increase his influence. He disregarded foreign comments upon his 
character and administration, and patiently bided his time. 

An event occurred soon after his elevation to the presidency, 
which afforded him the coveted opportunity of intervention in for- 
eign affairs. A disturbance broke out in the Roman States. The 



404 the world's crisis. 

Pope appealed for aid to foreign powers. Austria, who already 
held in subjection all the states of Northern Italy except Sardinia, 
was ready to intervene for the purpose of establishing her authority 
in Central Italy, also, under cover of a military protectorate of the 
Pope. This would shut Napoleon out from all intervention in the 
affairs of Italy. He anticipated Austria, and established a French 
force at Rome, to uphold the authority of the Pope. 

The potentates did not foresee the important influence this inter- 
vention was destined to give him over the affairs of Italy. They 
thought it but a slight advance from his isolation, to achieve which 
he had been compelled to depart from French principles, and uphold 
a ruler against his people. Delighted to see him involving himself 
in the meshes of a contradictory and vacillating policy, they readily 
acquiesced in his intervention. 

And now the contempt of the other powers afforded Napoleon 
the coveted opportunity so essential to his prestige, of emerging 
from his enforced isolation. The ambition of Russia precipitated 
that power into a blunder fatal to the interests of Absolutism. 

The Czar had long aspired to the possession of Constantinople. 
Before the French Revolution of 1789 affrighted monarchs with 
popular revolution, the sovereigns of Europe were especially intent 
upon the maintenance of the Balance of Power, and kept Russia 
back from this goal of its ambition. Then, the wars of the French 
Revolution occupied its attention until the downfall of Napoleon ; 
and afterward, the treaties of 1815 placed Turkey under the pro- 
tection of the Great Powers. But so commanding was the position 
of Russia, so necessary was its protection to the other powers, that 
none were prepared to oppose its ambition. The restored Bourbons 
leaned upon its protection even more entirely than the feudal mon- 
archs of Central Europe. The French Revolution of 1830 alone 
prevented the Czar from achieving his aim. Louis Phillippe, the 
king of the French, relying upon popular favor more than foreign 
bayonets, would have hailed an opportunity of giving stability to his 
dynasty by repulsing Russia from Constantinople. During his 
reign, the Czar could not venture on an attempt that would array 
England and France against him, supported probably by Austria, 
now reassured by twenty years of tranquillity. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 405 

The Revolutions of 1848 seemed to give the coveted opportunity. 
France governed by a Bonaparte was isolated in Europe : Austria, 
chastened by revolution, leaned upon Russia in greater dependence 
than ever: Prussia, in virtue of a secret understanding, which will 
hereafter be further mentioned, favored the ambition of the Czar : 
England stood alone, and the English ministry seemed little disposed 
to press its opposition to extremity. The Czar thought it a favor- 
able opportunity to achieve the conquest of Turkey, and after en- 
deavoring, in vain, to obtain the acquiescence of England, by offer- 
ing a division of the spoils, he engaged in the enterprise alone. 

This movement at once interrupted the cordial understanding that 
existed between Russia and her allies. Her movement threatened 
the India possessions of England. The Tories were opposed to war, 
because they desired to strengthen the power of the puissant cham- 
pion of Absolutism. But the ministry then in power represented 
the Trading Aristocracy ; and they were resolved to repel the Auto- 
crat from the road to India, at all hazards. They began to cast 
about for an alliance. Austria could not venture to provoke an 
issue with the Czar ; Prussia seemed ready to second his schemes : 
England was compelled to accept an alliance with France. The 
alliance was concluded, despite the protestations of the Tories, who 
regarded it as an egregious political blunder, far more to be de- 
plored than the Russian acquisition of Turkey. 

Napoleon's grand object was attained. He was no longer iso- 
lated. The false step of Russia enabled him to become the neces- 
sary friend of the very cliiefest of his uncle's foes, — the power 
whose alliance was most important to the ends he had in view. The 
allied arms drove Russia from her prey. France reaped the laurels 
of the war. Just as England, having tardily mustered her resources, 
was prepared to act efficiently, Russia, exhausted by her herculean 
efforts, sued for peace. England wished to continue the war, with 
the double aim of winning laurels and of reducing Russia to a con- 
dition in which she would cease to be formidable. But this was not 
Napoleon's policy. He had ulterior aims ; having obtained the 
friendship of England, he now sought to win the gratitude of Russia. 
He acted the part of a magnanimous foe, and met the overtures of 
Russia with cordial acquiescence. England protested in vain. He 



406 the world's crisis. 

forced the British government to assent to peace, by avowing his 
resolution, otherwise, to make a separate peace, and leave it to carry 
on the war alone. 

At the close of the Crimean war, the harmony of the parties to 
the treaties of 1815 was irrevocably broken. Russia was hostile to 
England, and resentful against Austria. On the other hand, Napo- 
leon had emerged from his isolation, and won the friendship of 
England by his aid, and the gratitude of Russia by his forbearance. 

The time was come when he might cautiously move in the delicate 
question of the nationalities. 

3d. Third Period: Napoleon's Restoration of Italian Nationality. 

The French emperor began with Italy, where he had already, with 
profound foresight, paved the way for intervention. He already 
had a footing in the country, as the protector of the Pope ; and he 
had taken Victor Emanuel, the king of Sardinia, under his protec- 
tion, as the only liberal sovereign in Italy, and, consequently, the 
only ruler suited to become the monarch of the united nation. He 
had also paved the way for the future elevation of his protege, by 
engaging him in the Crimean war as the ally of England and 
France ; thus giving the future Italian agitator a claim upon the 
gratitude of the English government. 

It was the policy of Napoleon, now, to fix the eyes of Italians 
upon his protege" as their future king. For it is his profound policy 
not to excite the revolutionary spirit, without giving it an object 
round which to rally. He thus gives revolution a head ; prevents 
its running into excesses ; and obtains the power of controlling and 
guiding it at will, without coming himself in contact with revolu- 
tionary masses. With the countenance of Napoleon, the king of 
Sardinia assumed the championship of Italian nationality, and en- 
couraged patriotic aspirations throughout the whole country. The 
Italians turned their eyes to him as the hope of Italy. 

The role of agitator assumed by the king of Sardinia at once 
brought him into collision with Austria. That power held all 
Northern Italy, except Sardinia, beneath its yoke ; and dependent 
dukedoms ruled by Austrian princes extended into Central Italy, 
down to the boundary of the Papal States. Austrian spies found 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 407 

Sardinian agents everywhere, exciting the Italian mind with the 
desire of national unity. Austria took umbrage, but dared not as- 
sail Sardinia covered with the mantle of French protection. The 
agitation progressed, until all Northern Italy was ready to burst 
into a flame. The Italians turned their eyes to Napoleon for aid. 

The French emperor waited until the excitement fostered by Sar- 
dinia rose to such a pitch, as to threaten an early outbreak. He 
then assumed the character of friend of order, and took the ground 
that, to avert a revolution dangerous to his own throne and to the 
peace of Europe, Austria must evacuate Italy. 

The demand of Napoleon was supported by the moral aid of all 
the Great Powers, except England. Russia lent him her counte- 
nance, ostensibly because his policy was the only means of averting 
revolution, but really because its own policy required the humilia- 
tion of Austrian power. Prussia, seconded by Russia, has long aspired 
to effect the union of Germany beneath its sway. Both those 
powers, therefore, favored the union of Italy, as a step toward the 
achievement of the aim of their policy ; and as the power of Austria, 
is the grand obstacle to the intended union of Germany, they hailed 
the movement that promised to humble its formidable power. 
Russia, therefore, openly favored the policy of Napoleon: Prussia 
declared its neutrality so long as the war was confined to Italy ; but, 
in its ambitious championship of Germany, vaunted its resolution to 
instantly resent the movement of a French army upon German soil. 
The British government alone manifested a warm sympathy with 
the Austrian cause. The Tories were then in power, by means of 
a coalition with the Liberals ; and, in defiance of the sympathies of 
the English people with the patriotic Italian movement, they on all 
occasions manifested their sympathy with Austria and Absolutist 
principles. 

Before moving in the Italian question, Napoleon found it neces- 
sary to take precautions to muzzle the English Tory party, and 
prevent it from throwing the power of England against him in his 
conflict with Austria. He knew he might rely upon the sympathy 
of the Liberals ; but to make their sympathy effective, it was neces- 
sary to secure the co-operation of the Whigs. He invited Lord 
Palmerston, the Whig leader, to visit him ; and Palmerston's subse- 



408 the world's crisis. 

quent course in Parliament showed that, during their interviews, 
Napoleon made him a convert to his Italian policy. He constantly 
supported the policy of the French emperor, and showed that his 
party was prepared to take issue with the Tories, if they attempted 
intervention in favor of Austria. The Tories knew that, upon that 
issue, their Liberal allies would go over to the Whigs, and unseat 
them from power. They were, therefore, precluded from active 
opposition to Napoleon. But they did what they could. They en- 
couraged loans to Austria ; and they endeavored, by the most active 
and earnest diplomacy, to avert a war and maintain her in posses- 
sion of her Italian provinces. 

All, however, proved vain. Napoleon moved steadily toward 
his purpose. He concluded an alliance with Sardinia, and adroitly 
defeating the persistent maneuvers of British Tory diplomacy, 
took the field in the cause of Italian nationality. In a short cam- 
paign, the French and Sardinians drove the Austrians out of Lom- 
bardy. By pursuing his advantage, Napoleon might have driven 
them out of Italy. But, in that event, Austria would continue the 
war, which would involve him in a serious dilemma : if he remained 
on the defensive, the war would last perpetually; if he crossed the 
German frontier, Prussia and all the German states were ready to 
combine against him. This posture of affairs compelled Napoleon 
to stop short in the career of victory, and make peace, leaving Vene- 
tia, and several other Italian states, in the hands of Austria. He 
contented himself with annexing Lombardy to the dominions of his 
ally, the king of Sardinia, together with the duchies from which the 
dukes of the House of Austria had been expelled. 

In the negotiations which preceded the Italian war, we perceive 
the policy which characterizes the movements of Napoleon as the 
champion of nationalities. He never presents himself as the zeal- 
ous partisan of their cause. On the contrary, he affects to be em- 
barrassed by the necessity of his position as emperor of the French, 
which imposes upon him the necessity of championing them in their 
struggles, as the only means of preventing revolution at home. The 
position of the French emperor has required the most watchful pru- 
dence. He has stood alone in Europe upon this question. The 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 409 

other Great Powers have been watching his movements with jealous 
eyes. To assume boldly the position of Agitator would bring 
against him a coalition which he could resist, only by summoning 
the Nationalities to arms ; — an extreme measure, which would in- 
volve a war to the death with the existing powers ; and, unless the 
populations were ripe for revolution, the colossal weight of Russia 
would suppress the premature movement, and roll upon France an 
irresistible torrent of invasion. Napoleon has been under the im- 
perative necessity of patiently waiting, and secretly guiding, the course 
of events. It is his policy to remain behind the scenes, moving the 
puppets who stimulate revolutionary impulses, until his agents have 
excited popular fervor to a pitch which justifies him in interfering, 
as the friend of order, rather than the champion of revolution. 

The Italian war and the peace of Villa Franca only began the 
work of Italian unity. Lombardy and the Austrian Duchies were 
annexed to Sardinia; — but Austria retained Venetia, in virtue of a 
treaty which the faith of Napoleon was pledged to respect; the 
Central states were under the dominion of the Pope, whose power 
was maintained by a French garrison; while the South of the penin- 
sula was swayed by the Bourbons of Naples. — The Italians soon 
grew impatient of delay. But Napoleon made no movement. Gari- 
baldi, the Italian patriot, levied a band of guerilla adventurers, to 
make a fillibuster expedition against the kingdom of Naples. It will 
not be known until time gives the archives of the present age to 
history, what connection Napoleon had with this enterprise. With 
his usual caution, he sought to avoid the suspicion of complicity, by 
suggesting to the British government to order its cruizers to inter- 
cept the expedition, — a suggestion obviously made for political 
effect; for he knew that the coalition of Whigs and Liberals who 
then ruled England would not entertain the proposition for a mo- 
ment. — Garibaldi landed in the Neapolitan states, routed the royal 
forces, drove the Bourbon king out of his dominions, and annexed 
them to Sardinia, or, as it was now termed, the kingdom of Italy. 

All Italy was now united, except Venetia and the Papal States. 
Italian patriots became clamorous for continued progress toward 
unity. But the soldiers of Napoleon garrisoned Rome, and his faith 



410 

was plighted to respect the Italian possessions of Austria. The 
French emperor was placed in an embarrassing position. Italian 
excitement ran high against Austria, and powerful armies were levied 
with the avowed object of driving her out of Italy. It seemed as 
if a collision were imminent, in which the sympathies of France 
would involve the emperor, contrary to the faith of treaties. The 
situation of German affairs promised to extricate him from his di- 
lemma, if the crisis were postponed; and, with profound sagacity, 
Napoleon employed all the arts of diplomacy, to defer the assault 
upon Austria until the propitious moment. To appease the ex- 
citement of the Italian mind, he engaged (1864) to withdraw his 
troops from Rome at the expiration of two years, leaving the question 
between the Pope and his subjects to be determined between them- 
selves; but, for the sake of decency, exacting from the king of Sar- 
dinia — or rather of Italy — an engagement that he would not suffer 
any assault to be made from without upon the Papal territories. 
This engagement w T as a virtual surrender of the temporal power of 
the Pope, and a consent to the union of the States of the Church 
with the kingdom of Italy, at the expiration of a limited time. It 
was regarded in this light, both by Italy and France. French 
pamphlets speaking by authority were issued, to prepare the mind 
of the Catholic world for the approaching downfall of the temporal 
power of the Pope. Appeased by this concession, Italy withheld 
the threatened blow against Austria. 

The German imbroglio, fostered no doubt by the secret maneuvers 
of the French court, took the expected direction. Prussia became 
involved in war with Austria, and, at t\\e suggestion of Napoleon, 
formed an alliance w T ith Italy against their common foe. Austrian 
disasters compelled that power to solicit the mediation of Napoleon, 
and cede Venetia as the price of his good offices ; and that state is 
now united to the kingdom of Italy. All Italy is now united, except 
the States of the Church. The French troops will soon evacuate 
Rome according to agreement, and then, if no unfortunate turn of 
affairs occurs to thwart the far-seeing policy of Napoleon, Italian 
nationality will be restored. The policy of the French emperor, 
combining a rare union of prudence, skill, and energy, may be said 
to have brought the Italian imbroglio to a favorable conclusion. 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 411 

Unless a great reaction in favor of despotism shall occur, the first 
act in the drama of European reconstruction will soon be complete. 
We have thus, to avoid prolixity of statement, traced the progress 
of the Italian question down to the present time. It remains to 
trace the important events to which progressive French ideas have 
given rise in Germany. 

4th. The Napoleonic Programme for effecting the National Unity of 

Germany. 

It will be remembered that, as Italy was divided between the 
king of Naples, the Pope, the king of Sardinia, the emperor of 
Austria, and various Austrian dukes, so Germany was divided be- 
tween the emperor of Austria, the king of Prussia, the king of Den- 
mark, and more than thirty other feudal princes. When Napoleon 
first assumed the championship of the principle of nationality, the 
German mind was as thoroughly imbued with aspirations after 
national unity as the Italian; the same process of agitation which 
wrought such grand results in Italy would have produced effects not 
less important in Germany. Napoleon selected Italy as the first 
field for agitation, not because it was riper for revolution, but because 
fewer difficulties were to be encountered in can-ying the question to 
a successful issue. The princes who divided Italy among them had 
no common policy; they might be assailed in detail; but agitation in 
Germany would have been met by the action of the Bund, and must 
have precipitated a general war. Again, agitation might progress 
in Italy without involving European complications. Prussia, as 
already mentioned, aspired to unite Germany beneath her scepter; 
regarding all steps toward the union of Italy with approval, as facil- 
itating her own ambition, she rejoiced in the blows which weakened 
the power of Austria, the great obstacle to her intended career. 
Russia, also, sympathized with the aims of Prussian ambition, and 
w T as not disposed to make any opposition to measures which so 
directly facilitated it. Napoleon, therefore, selected Italy as the 
field for agitation, leaving Germany to ripen gradually for a move- 
ment in favor of Nationality. 

Whether the recent agitation in Germany originated in the secret 



412 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

maneuvers of French diplomacy, cannot be certainly known in this 
age. But that agitation reached a crisis very opportunely, and res- 
cued Napoleon from an embarrassing position in respect of the 
Italian imbroglio ; whether its beginning was fostered by French 
intrigue or not, it is certain that French diplomacy fostered it, and 
gave it direction. 

We must understand the policy of the French emperor with re- 
gard to Germany, in order to comprehend the tangled skein of 
events which ultimated in the Prusso-Austrian war of 1866. His 
policy is the key to the course of the German imbroglio. The events 
of the last three years prove that Napoleon had a consistent, well- 
devised plan, by which he proposed to effect the re-establishment of 
all the European nationalities, by means of the movement in Ger- 
many. A statement of the facts will prove the existence of a far- 
reaching policy in the mind of the French emperor. 

It will be remembered, that Germany is an agglomeration of feudal 
states, governed by feudal princes, some of sovereign rank, but all 
united in a loose confederation, and represented in a general federal 
diet. Several centuries ago, the German duchy of Holstein became, 
by inheritance, the feudal possession of the king of Denmark. The 
Danish sovereigns, having inherited the duchy, regarded it as their 
own, by as good a title as the rest of their dominions. Never sup- 
posing that their possession, running through centuries, would be 
questioned, they did not restrict the German population of Holstein 
to their own territory, but suffered them to settle in the adjoining 
Danish duchy of Schleswig. So that, in process of time, half the 
duchy of Schleswig became peopled with Germans. The people of 
Holstein and the German population of Schleswig have been, for 
years, restive beneath Danish rule. They were separated from 
German interests and association, and governed as a portion of a 
foreign kingdom. Their dissatisfaction at length (1863) reached 
such a height as to threaten a revolt from the Danish yoke. The 
king of Denmark, like other feudal sovereigns in similar circum- 
stances, strengthened his garrisons and bade defiance to the popular 
aspirations. 

The question now assumed a new phase. The people of Germany 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 413 

sympathized warmly with the cause of the Holsteiners. Mutterings 
were heard indicative of a rising storm of national indignation. The 
question now boded danger to the other feudal sovereigns, for indig- 
nation against one might soon embrace them all. The German Diet 
made haste to anticipate the popular fermentation, and, to that end, 
resolved to take the question into its own hands and call out the 
troops of the Confederation, to wrest Holstein and Schleswig from 
the king of Denmark. 

The open interference of Prussia in the question, now began. It 
has long been the policy of Prussia to assume the championship of 
German nationality ; doubtless, with the design of fixing the national 
mind on the Prussian monarch, as the prince under whose scepter 
the long hoped for nationality may be attained. Prussia now came 
zealously forward, to become the executive of the national will. 
Austria, jealous of this officious zeal, placed herself abreast of her 
rival. The two Great German Powers took upon themselves the ex- 
ecution of the decree of the Diet, and promptly prepared to attack 
Denmark with overwhelming forces. 

At this juncture, British diplomacy interposed, to avert the storm 
that was about to burst upon Denmark. The Prince of Wales had 
married a Danish princess, and British sympathies were enlisted by 
the family alliance. Austria was willing to consent to a compro- 
mise. But Prussia, no doubt meditating the appropriation of the 
Duchies, even then, was inexorable, and dragged Austria reluctantly 
after. The British government then solicited the intervention of 
the other two Great Powers, France and Russia, and avowed its will- 
ingness to fight, if either of them would second its arms. But both 
refused to interfere. Russia, no doubt, knew the ultimate aims of 
Prussia, and approved them, in furtherance of its own ambitious 
policy. Napoleon saw that the Great German Powers were cham- 
pioning the principle of Nationality against a feudal sovereign, and 
that affairs were taking the direction he wished. True to the prin- 
ciple of Nationality, he responded to the British overtures by pro- 
posing an European Congress that should settle all the vexed ques- 
tions embroiling Europe : upon the rejection of his suggestion, he 
held aloof, while the belligerents brought the question to the arbitra- 
ment of force. 



414 the world's crisis. 

A short campaign drove the Danes out of the Duchies, and com- 
pelled the king of Denmark to sue for peace on any terms the Ger- 
man Powers chose to impose. In the treaty that followed, Denmark 
ceded the disputed Duchies. 

Thus far, the sympathy of Napoleon with the cause of Nationali- 
ties is sufficient to account for his course, without supposing that he 
had a definite plan by which to avail himself of the course of 
events. His general policy in the cause of Nationality would induce 
him to favor an attempt to wrest the Duchies from a feudal sover- 
eign, and unite them to the German nation. But the question now 
assumed a new phase, in which the course of the French emperor 
was either dictated by mad folly, or by a profound scheme for pro- 
moting the union of Germany and the restoration of all the Nation- 
alities of Europe. 

When the Duchies were surrendered by Denmark, it was expected 
that they would be given to the next heir of the Ducal domains. 
Both the principles of the feudal system, and the policy of Europe 
for the maintenance of the Balance of Power, required the adoption 
of this course. Claimants were not wanting. But the Prussian 
government maintained its hold upon the Duchies ; and, after delay- 
ing upon various pretexts the final settlement of the question, it, at 
length, avowed its resolution to annex them to its own domains. 

The aim of Prussia in attempting to secure this acquisition was 
patent to all familiar with the past policy of that State. The rest- 
lessness of the German nation in its disparted condition, and the 
popular aspirations after national unity, have long made it evident 
that, sooner or later, the unity of Germany must be consummated. 
Prussia has long aspired to become the imperial state of Germany, 
around which the whole nation may be united. With this end in 
view, it, from policy, always assumes the championship of the na- 
tional interests. This policy induced it to menace Napoleon during 
the Italian war, in the event of his crossing the German frontier : 
the same policy caused it to stand forward in asserting the national 
cause against Denmark. It hopes that, being associated in the Ger- 
man mind with the cause of national unity, popular aspirations may 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 415 

rally around it, as the exponent of the national idea, and the proper 
head of the German empire. 

But the superior power of Austria in Germany has been an in- 
superable obstacle, hitherto, to the consummation of Prussian am- 
bition. Austria possessed the greater extent of German territory ; 
and all the minor princes of Germany, standing equally in dread 
of the aggressive ambition of Prussia, made common cause with Aus- 
tria, in the German Bund. Prussia occupied the position of a rest- 
less agitator dangerous to the existing status, whom the other 
princes united to restrain. Before it could make any advance to- 
ward the goal of its ambition, an increase of power and influence 
was imperatively necessary. But it could not hope to rival Austria 
in extent of dominions ; its only hope of attaining an ascendancy 
in Germany lay in becoming the commercial agent and industrial 
center of the nation. Commerce has, in our age, become the great 
source of wealth and power. The situation of the Austrian domin- 
ions in the center of the European continent, with only a few ob- 
scure ports upon the head of the Adriatic sea, precluded that power 
from becoming a commercial state. The Prussian dominions, whose 
only ports lay on the Baltic, were not more favorably situated for 
commerce. Prussia has deeply felt her disadvantageous situation ; 
years ago, she manifested her desire of becoming a commercial 
state, by purchasing of Russia (in the Duchy of Oldenburg) a site for 
a port on the North Sea. This site, however, was too far removed 
from the rest of the Prussian territories to further materially the 
aims of that power. The purchase only served to show the anxiety 
of Prussia to become a commercial state, and the sympathy of Rus- 
sia with the ambitious project. 

The situation of Holstein is most favorable for commercial pur- 
poses. It has a number of fine harbors situated on the German 
Ocean; and the river Elbe, which drains a great part of Germany, 
forms the boundary between Holstein and Hanover down to the sea. 
The possession of Holstein would give Prussia the ocean ports she 
coveted, and the command of the mouth of the Elbe ; and would en- 
able it to become a commercial power, and drain the entire trade 
of Germany to its ports. Traffic ahvays carries with it political 
power; the consummation of the scheme would give Prussia a 



416 the world's crisis. 

decided political ascendancy in Germany, and prove an important 
step toward the goal of its ambition. 

All Europe was apprised of the aim of Prussian ambition ; and 
the important bearing its acquisition of the Duchies would have in 
furthering its ulterior aims, was patent to all. Austria and the 
minor German princes were seized with alarm, and protested vigor- 
ously against the attempted acquisition. They resolved to prevent 
it by force of arms, and appealed to the Great Powers of Europe to 
aid them in preventing Prussia from acquiring a dangerous increase 
of power. England, always devoted to the maintenance of the Bal- 
ance of Power, lent a favorable ear to their representations. If 
either France or Russia had taken a stand in opposition to Prussian 
ambition, the coalition would have been too formidable to confront ; 
and Prussia must, perforce, have withdrawn from the Duchies, and 
yielded them to the lawful claimant, the duke of Augustenburg. 
But both France and Russia favored the designs of Prussia. The 
motives which influenced Russia will appear when we shall hereafter 
analyze its policy. But why did Napoleon favor Prussia? Why 
did he, when a word would have forced it to give up the Duchies, 
lend his countenance to its ambition? 

The Prussian government, opposed by Austria and all the minor 
German states, was overmatched. It could not proceed with its de- 
sign alone. The Prussian minister, Bismarck, applied for an alli- 
ance — to whom ? To Napoleon. Then an understanding existed 
between the courts. The Prussian government knew that it might 
rely upon the sympathy of Napoleon, before it ventured to avow its 
resolution to appropriate the Duchies. And now in the face of an 
opposition too formidable to be confronted alone, it applied to him 
for assistance. Napoleon declined to interfere, but referred Bis- 
marck to Italy, and suggested that an Italian alliance would answer 
the purpose. The Italian alliance was formed with the full approval 
of Napoleon, at his suggestion indeed, and Prussia and Italy con- 
fronted Austria allied with all the minor German States. 

We cannot suppose that Napoleon was induced to countenance 
Prussia, merely for the purpose of obtaining her alliance to aid 
Italy in wresting Yenetia from Austria. The end was too trivial to 
be obtained by such means. The Prussian acquisition of the Duchies 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 417 

would completely overturn the balance of power in Germany, giv- 
ing Prussia a decided ascendancy, and putting in operation causes 
which would effect the union of Germany beneath her sway, at no 
distant period. Napoleon is an able statesman, and he would never 
have suffered the Balance of Power to be thus irretrievably sub- 
verted, merely to effect a temporary object in providing Italy with 
an ally. He must have had a profounder aim, a far-sighted policy, 
to be furthered in the aggrandizement of Prussia, — nothing less than 
the final adjustment of the question of the Nationalities. 

Napoleon must have foreseen that the establishment of Italian 
unity would excite national enthusiasm in Germany and Central 
Europe, and that the issue would force itself upon him at no distant 
day. It is not his habit to suffer issues to come upon him unpre- 
pared. By his occupation of Rome, and his patronage of Sardinia, 
he prepared himself to take control of Italian events, years before 
he attempted any active intervention. So, it was his policy to anti- 
cipate German agitation, and obtain a position to direct and control 
the movement, before the outburst came. Napoleon never suffers 
national aspirations to break out in popular revolution ; but he aims 
to direct the popular impulse, by selecting some state as the nucleus 
round which national impulses may center. We have seen how he 
selected Sardinia as the center round which to unite Italy. So, in 
effecting the unity of Germany, it was his programme to select some 
German sovereign, under whose supremacy all the States of the 
Confederation might be united. 

Several considerations pointed to Prussia as the state best fitted 
to become the Sardinia of Germany. — (1.) It had power enough, 
seconded by France, to carry out the movement and effect the union 
of Germany. The union of Germany under Prussia would be much 
less difficult to effect, than the union of Italy under the Sardinian 
crown. (2.) It had but a small extra German territory, in Poland, 
which it might readily give up to the national principle, in order to 
secure the aid of France in achieving the union of Germany beneath 
its sway. (3.) It seemed ready to enter upon the career ; having, 
since 1848, assumed the championship of German nationality, as 
Sardinia had of Italian. — The only drawback was its past career, 
which committed the government to absolutist principles. Its share 



418 the world's crisis. 

in the partition of Poland, especially, linked it with Russia. Napo- 
leon was apprised of the policy of Russia for the last fifty years, in 
seeking the aggrandizement of Prussia in the interest of its own ambi- 
tion. He was also apprised of the cordial understanding which has 
existed between the two crowns during the whole of that period. He 
knew that the union of Germany under the Prussian crown would 
be fatal to liberal institutions in Europe, if the Prussian sovereign 
continued to cling to Absolutism, and used his accession of power 
for the furtherance of Russian policy, and Russian ambition. He is 
too profound a statesman to suffer a movement to progress, that 
would strengthen Absolutism and enable it to dominate Europe. 

Napoleon perceived the risk involved in trusting Prussia with 
increased power, but he must, notwithstanding, have decided that 
Prussia should become the Sardinia of Germany. I doubt not, when 
the secret history of our time is known, it will be found that an 
understanding existed between the two governments before the 
Danish war. The French emperor, with the sublime self-confidence 
of greatness, relied upon his own ability to keep Prussia true to his 
policy while it was being carried to a successful termination ; and, 
indeed, to so direct events, as to give that government no oppor- 
tunity to play him false, until the question of the Nationalities was 
finally settled on so firm a basis as to make Prussian treachery 
hopeless. Confident in his ability to direct events and control Prus- 
sia, he countenanced its designs and seconded its ambition, by 
lending the moral support of France and furthering an alliance with 
Italy. 

Let us note the probabilities which at that time must have dwelt 
in the far-seeing mind of Napoleon. 

It seemed probable that, with the assistance of Italy, Prussia 
would make good its claim upon Holstein and Schleswig; and that, 
after a short war, peace would be made upon the basis of the cession 
of those duchies to Prussia, and Venetia to Italy. 

Then the German enthusiasm for nationality, stimulated by French 
agents, would continue slowly to rise, compelling Prussia to take the 
option of going down before the movement, or of co-operating with 
Napoleon to direct it to her own advantage. Under the circum- 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 419 

stances, Prussia would have no alternative but to co-operate with 
France and head the national agitation. Soon, Germany, Hungary, 
and Poland would grow ripe for a revolutionary outburst. 

If Napoleon could trust Prussia implicitly, he might then inter- 
vene by arms, as in the case of Italy, and effect the unity of Ger- 
many, by aiding Prussia to overrun the territories of Austria and 
the other feudal princes. But the genius of Napoleon is rather 
politic than military. He would rather effect his object by nego- 
tiation than arms. Besides, he could not trust Prussia. Germany 
once united beneath its sway, the Prussian government might return 
to its absolutist proclivities, and, bidding defiance to France, enter 
into an alliance with Russia to arrest the further progress of liberal 
principles. Prudence would counsel Napoleon to keep the thread 
of events in his own hands, until his object was consummated. 

Therefore, when Germany, Hungary, and Poland were ripe for 
revolution, he would exact of the Prussian government a renewed 
pledge to give up its Polish provinces, and second him in restoring 
all these Nationalities, on condition of having Germany united 
beneath its sway. This preliminary arranged, (and Prussia, with 
revolution menacing its throne as the alternative, would be com- 
pelled to submit,) he would repeat his call to the European Powers 
to meet in a European Congress, to avert an universal revolutionary 
outbreak, by adjusting the question of the Nationalities. His call 
would be seconded by Italy, on principle ; and by Prussia, from 
anxiety to avert revolution and secure the sovereignty of Ger- 
many : a pledge not to introduce the Irish question would secure the 
adhesion of Great Britain, always anxious to maintain tranquillity : 
the Austrian government, completely at the mercy of revolution 
ready to break out in all its dominions, might be easily won over, by 
the promise of indemnity in Turkey for the dominions it would be 
required to cede. Russia alone would be reluctant ; but Russia 
would be forced to acquiesce in the united voice of Europe. 

The Congress assembled, Napoleon would propose, in order to 
settle forever the question of Nationalities and give peace and secu- 
rity to Europe, that Germany should be united under the Prussian 
scepter ; that Poland should be restored to national unity and inde- 
pendence ; that the Swedish provinces conquered by Russia should 



420 the world's crisis. 

be restored ; that the Austrian dynasty should make Hungary its 
imperial seat, and receive indemnity for its German and Polish ter- 
ritories in the Turkish principalities, — an arrangement every way 
advantageous to the Hungarians, which would be highly acceptable 
to them ; that the Greek population of Turkey should be restored 
to nationality, with the limits of the old Greek empire, having the 
Danube on its northern border ; that the Belgic provinces wrested 
from France three hundred years ago should be restored ; and that 
the unity of Italy, if still imperfect, should be completed. 

This programme would give general satisfaction. France, Prus- 
sia, Austria, Italy, England, and Sweden would embrace it with one 
accord. Russia might demur ; but confronted, on the one hand, by 
revolution, and on the other, by the united voice of Europe, Russia, 
seeing the hopelessness of resistance, would yield with a good grace 
the spoils she found it impossible to keep. 

The arrangement once consummated, Europe would rest upon the 
equipoise of ten great nations, — Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, 
Germany, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, and Greece. There 
would no longer be any danger of Russian ambition, nor of a com- 
bination dangerous to the independence of the nations. Gradually, 
the progress of the principle of Nationality would cause England 
to consent to the independence of Ireland : it would also dismember 
the Russian empire into its national elements ; when the Russian 
territory left, after restoring the Polish and Swedish boundaries, 
would be divided into Great Russia, Kasan, Ukraine, the Cossack 
territory, and Circassia. Then, at length, freed from the dread of 
dynastic ambition, the nations of Europe might give themselves to 
the arts of peace. 

Such a consummation Napoleon must have designed for the ques- 
tion of Nationalities, when he gave his sanction to the Prussian 
acquisition of the Duchies, and lent that power his support in a war 
to maintain its claim. His programme supposed that, in the war 
with Austria, Prussia would merely maintain its possession of the 
Duchies ; and, that his policy would have the moral support of the 
British government which had sustained him hitherto. This last 
was especially important to the success of his policy. Supported 
by the moral influence of England, or left unembarrassed by its 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 421 

neutrality, he felt himself master of the situation ; the success of his 
policy seemed infallible ; Prussian treachery impossible ; and the 
reconstruction of the map of Europe, and the re-establishment of 
the Nationalities at an early day, absolutely certain. 

But both the contingencies upon which he relied for success failed 
him. Prussia achieved more decisive success than he had antici- 
pated; the British government, under Tory rule, ranged itself 
against him. 

The war began. The allies of Austria displayed the proverbial 
slowness of a league in taking the field ; and, as a great part of the 
Austrian forces were detached to resist the assault of Italy, Prussia 
gained the advantage of the initiative. The Prussian government 
made a levy en masse of the military population, and, assuming a 
vigorous offensive, overran the territories of the North German 
states in alliance with Austria, and then invaded the Austrian states 
with one of the largest armies that has taken the field in modern 
times. The opposing forces met at Sadowa, in Bohemia, and after 
a terrible conflict, the superiority of the Prussians in numbers, arms, 
discipline, and dash, achieved a decisive victory. The Austrians 
were utterly routed, leaving 75,000 men on the field of battle. 

The rout of Sadowa reduced Austria to extremity. Lying at the 
mercy of its antagonist, as its only hope, it appealed to the inter- 
vention of the Great Powers. To Napoleon it proffered Venetia, 
the bone of contention with Italy, as the price of his good offices. 

The rapid and decisive success of the Prussian arms outran the 
expectations of Napoleon. The event showed that Prussia was suf- 
ficiently powerful to achieve the union of Germany by conquest, 
without the aid of France. The "Prussian armies were pressing 
forward to another victory, which would have completed the de- 
struction of the Austrian power and laid Germany at the feet of the 
conqueror. 

At this moment, Napoleon intervened. He was justly distrust- 
ful, from the past course of Prussia, that the government, if per- 
mitted to achieve the union of Germany by conquest, might violate 
all its pledges, set him at defiance, and employ its power for the 
consolidation of Absolutism in Europe. He accepted Venetia, thus 



422 the world's crisis. 

preventing further attack by Italy, and enabling Austria to confront 
Prussia with all her forces; and gaining an impregnable base of op- 
erations, if he should find it necessary to take up arms, to force 
Prussia to treat. Napoleon intervened, not to prevent the union of 
Germany under the Prussian crown, but to prevent Prussia from 
achieving that union under circumstances that would render it inde- 
pendent of French influence, and enable it to contravene all his 
plans, and even endanger liberal institutions in Europe. He was 
still ready to co-operate with Prussia, as before, but he was resolved 
to keep the key of the situation in his own hands, that he might in- 
sure the fidelity of Prussia to his policy. 

His distrust was well founded. Subsequent events prove that, if 
he had suffered Prussia, then, to achieve the union of Germany by 
conquest, it would have abused its power to the advancement of 
Absolutism. But it was then in the power of Napoleon. Russia, 
it is true, was ready to lend its support ; but even with the aid of 
Russia, it was not able to cope with France and Austria. Upon the 
appearance of France in the field, Italy would change sides ; a rapid 
movement of the French armies upon the Rhine would expel the 
Prussian troops from the German states they had overrun, and com- 
pel them to evacuate the Austrian territories ; and that power would 
stand stripped of all its conquests, in opposition to all Germany 
allied with France. 

Prussia perceived that Napoleon was master of the situation, and, 
with whatever reluctance, it promptly paused in the career of con- 
quest at his bidding. The terms of peace Napoleon imposed show 
that his policy still looked to the union of all Germany under the 
Prussian crown. Prussia had taken up arms, only to make good its 
possession of Holstein and Schleswig. Napoleon might easily have 
enforced a demand, that peace should be made on the basis of the 
restoration of the territories overrun by the Prussian arms to their 
feudal princes, Prussia retaining only the duchies which were the 
occasion of the war. But Prussia, throughout the imbroglio, had 
proclaimed itself the advocate of French principles. It had asserted 
the principle of nationality against feudalism, in wresting the duchies 
from Denmark ; in its alliance with Italy, it championed Italian na- 
tionality ; during the war with Austria, it summoned Hungary by 



POLITICAL CONDITION OF EUROPE. 423 

proclamation to strike for its national independence. In all this, it 
proclaimed itself the exponent of French liberal principles. Still 
further to propitiate Napoleon, it now proposed to settle the ques- 
tions involved in the treaty of peace, upon the basis of French prin- 
ciples. It proposed that the destiny of the conquered territories, 
either to return to their feudal princes, or to be annexed to Prussia, 
should be left to the vote of the people ; thus asserting the progres- 
sive idea that the choice of the people is higher than feudal rights. 
It proposed, furthermore, that a North German Confederation should 
be established, to be governed by a national parliament elected by 
universal suffrage. 

These propositions seemed to commit Prussia fully to the Napo- 
leonic ideas, and the French emperor acquiesced in the vast increase 
of power the arrangement would secure. Peace was made upon the 
following basis: (1.) The States of Holstein and German Schleswig, 
the original ground of contention, were ceded to Prussia. (2.) The 
States overrun by the Prussian arms, — Hanover, Hesse Cassel, 
Saxony, etc., — were to be annexed to the Prussian dominions, or 
return to their feudal lords, according as their populations should 
elect. (3.) The old Germanic Bund was dissolved, and a North- 
German Confederation established under the presidency of the king 
of Prussia, which included all those states of Northern Germany 
not actually annexed to his dominions. 

This treaty nearly doubled the German territories of Prussia, and 
gave that power complete control of all Northern Germany; while 
the South-German states, including Bavaria, Baden, Wirtemberg, 
and the Austrian possessions, were left out to form a South-German 
union or not, as they chose. The arrangement places Prussia in a 
position to achieve the union of all Germany beneath its scepter. 
It is already head of half the country; and the other portion is 
placed in a position to feel more acutely than ever the severance of 
the nation, and to aspire ardently to an union with the Prussian 
North-German Confederation. 

With this treaty we may close our chapter upon the state of Eu- 
rope. It also closes the third epoch in the struggle between pro- 
gress and Absolutism. It constitutes an era in the question of the 



424 the world's crisis. 

Nationalities, from which the historian will date a new phase of this 
important and exciting issue. Down to that event, French progressive 
ideas were aggressive. Napoleon controlled events for years, and 
he dictated the terms of that arrangement. Prussia seemed, at that 
time, to have committed herself thoroughly to his policy; and Napo- 
leon seemed to have the fairest prospect of guiding events according 
to his desire, and securing, at no distant day, the establishment of the 
Nationalities. 

But just at this crisis, occurred the political revolution in England 
mentioned in the preceding chapter, which gave the Tories control 
of the government. This change of English politics completely 
revolutionized the face of affairs on the Continent. It wrested the 
helm from the hand of Napoleon, and closed the era of French ag- 
gression against Absolutism ; it rescued Absolutism from approach- 
ing downfall, and placed it at once in a haughty ascendant, which 
will enable it to dominate Europe, and threaten Liberty, throughout 
the world. 

But we must reserve the new era so full of dangers, inaugurated 
by the Tory ascendancy in England, for another chapter. 



CHAPTER III. 

FOUETH EPOCH IN THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN ABSOLUTISM 
AND PROGRESS: IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 

Since the French Revolution of 1789, as has been seen in the 
preceding chapter, the question of the Nationalities has passed 
through three successive stages. 

The First Epoch comprises the French Revolutionary wars, from 
1789 to 1815 : embracing, first, the period when France waged a 
defensive struggle with the armies of the Absolute nations ; secondly, 
the period when, under Napoleon, revolutionary thought was ag- 
gressive, until the ambition of that monarch diverted the Revolution 
from its true channel, and perverted it to subserve the aims of 



IMPENDING T1UUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 425 

dynastic ambition; and, thirdly, the period when the despots appealed 
to the patriotism of their subjects, and crushed the conqueror with 
the onset of outraged nations. 

The Second Epoch was inaugurated by the treaties of 1815, and 
extended to 1818 : during this period Absolutism was predominant; 
but the nations were restive beneath the yoke, and were held in check 
by the rule of the sword. 

The Third Epoch took its rise in the French revolution of 1818, 
and stretches to 1866: during which, the two forces, Progress and 
Absolutism, have been standing armed, front to front ; Absolutism 
on the defensive ; Progress gradually winning its way to what seemed 
a decisive supremacy. Throughout this epoch, France — supported 
by the alliance with England where the Liberal party held the balance 
of power — has been the standard-bearer of Progress. 

But the revolution in English politics, during the past year, which 
established the Tories firmly in power, has inaugurated a Fourth 
Epoch. That revolution rescued Absolutism in the very crisis of 
the struggle from approaching ruin, and placed it in an ascendancy 
that will enable it to crush Progress in Europe — perhaps to trample 
the world beneath its feet. The epoch in the question of National- 
ities now just begun, will be marked by a decisive conflict between 
Absolutism and Progress, in which the power of England under 
Tory rule will give the former a decisive victory, in the highest 
degree disastrous to the cause of Freedom in the earth. 

To present a view of the political forces that will govern this 
epoch, and trace the necessary course of European events in this 
eventful crisis, will be the design of this chapter. 

Sect. 1. — Forces at Work in Europe. 

It is now admitted on all hands, that the existing status in Europe 
cannot continue. The question of Nationalities has reached a crisis 
in which some change is inevitable. The issue is, now, whether this 
change shall take such a direction as to re-establish all the Nation- 
alities, and give a definitive victory to Progress ; or whether events 
shall be controlled by reactionary forces, in such a manner as to 
firmly re-establish the ascendancy of Absolutism. Europe is in a 
critical condition. It is in that unsettled posture which marks the 



426 the world's crisis. 

decline of an old era, when worn out forces are about to be ex- 
changed for the vigorous energetic agencies that mark a new age. 
Two rival principles, — Liberal Government, and Consolidated Ab- 
solutism, — are struggling for supremacy, battling for the sway of the 
dawning era. The present unsettled state of Europe may give place 
to either. Whichever principle is the victor in the approaching 
crisis will dominate Europe with irresistible sway. Both give 
promise of peace from the agitation of this unsettled age : the one, 
beneath the shadow of Despotism ; the other, in the prevalence of 
constitutional liberty. 

I. The Impending Outbreak of the Nationalities. 

If events are left to take their course, within a few years, a gen- 
eral revolutionary outbreak in Germany, Hungary, and Poland, is 
inevitable. 

Several distinct lines of causation combine their influence to 
hasten an outbreak of German national enthusiasm. — (1.) In the 
natural progress of thought, the German mind must, ere long, be 
thrilled with eager aspirations after national unity. The leaven has 
already been working, for years. The profound agitation of the 
German popular mind was manifest in the national movement re- 
specting Holstein and Schleswig, which led to the Danish war. — (2.) 
The issue of that war, and the recent acts of Prussia, have contrib- 
uted to deepen the excitement. That power, for the furtherance of 
its ambition, has appealed to the patriotic impulses of the German 
nation ; and has dethroned various feudal princes whose rights stood 
in the way of the realization of national unity, — thus pointing the 
way to nationality over the ruins of feudal thrones. — (3.) The suc- 
cess of Italy, also, will exercise a powerful influence upon the Ger- 
man mind. Hitherto, ridicule has been the most powerful weapon 
of the advocates of feudal rights. They have derided the idea of 
nationality, as the fancy of weak and visionary minds — the fanciful 
ideal of patriotic dreamers, not to be realized in practical life. Its 
advocates, themselves, have hitherto regarded it as the object of 
dreamy longing rather than the aim of assured hope. But the ex- 
perience of Italy has refuted every scoff. The condition of that 
country seemed more hopeless than that of any nation on the Con- 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 427 

tinent: when, in spite of every obstacle, the Italians shall have 
achieved their national unity, their example will nerve the other 
disparted nations to a persevering struggle in behalf of their lost 
nationality. It will prove that no obstacles are too great to be over- 
come by a nation resolved to be free. Italy standing at the goal, 
waving the banner of national independence and beckoning the 
-nations on in the path to freedom, will thrill the hearts of the op- 
pressed with an ardor tenfold greater than that awakened by the 
commotion of her struggle. — (4.) The arrangements of the treaty 
which terminated the recent war will fire the German heart with 
national enthusiasm. The Northern states of Germany are united 
under the lead of Prussia, while the Southern are excluded from this 
union, and subjected to the sway of Austria and their respective 
feudal princes. The severance of Germany is thus more palpable 
than ever before; which fact, alone, will excite a greater fervor of 
aspiration after national unity. This impulse will be quickened by 
material interests. Prussia, by her late acquisitions, having obtained 
an extended line of coast, with numerous fine harbors, will be able 
to consummate her aim of becoming a great commercial power. 
Her administration will be so directed as to foster commercial in- 
dustry, of which Northern Germany will have the benefit. The 
necessary effect of this will be dissatisfaction in the Southern German 
states that are excluded from the benefits of the new regime. They 
will long for a participation in the commercial advantages of their 
Northern brethren, and for an union with them as the only method 
of obtaining their end. North Germany will sympathize with the 
South, and the whole nation will glow with the impulse of national 
emotion. 

If events are left to take their course, Germany will, in a few 
years, be ripe for revolution in favor of nationality. 

A revolutionary outburst in Germany would quickly spread to 
Hungary and Poland. The thrill of national emotion diffuses itself 
with electric rapidity through the oppressed nations of Europe, — ■ 
the impulse of one nation vibrating through all. The French Rev- 
olution of 1848 threw all the European nations into a convulsion of 
national excitement. Three years ago, the growing enthusiasm of 
Italy found a response in the movements of the Irish Fenians — in 



428 the world's crisis. 

the resolute, though unsuccessful insurrection in Poland — and in the 
excitement of the German masses on the Holstein question. But 
the Italian movement has been regulated by the guidance of Victor 
Emanuel ; and the detached situation of Italy has prevented its ex- 
citement from thoroughly fevering the rest of Europe : Germany has 
thought and reflected upon the subject of nationality, but the na- 
tional passions have not been deeply stirred : Hungary and Poland 
have made fierce, spasmodic efforts to regain their independence, 
but theirs have been isolated struggles, easily suppressed. But, 
unlike Italy, Germany is the heart of Europe ; its fevered pulsa- 
tions will be felt to the extremities of the Continent. It borders 
upon Hungary and Poland, along their entire western frontier. A 
revolutionary outbreak in Germany will throw all Central Europe 
into a flame. 

II. The Policy of Absolutism. 

But Absolutism has a policy by which to counter these national 
aspirations, which will not only render them harmless, but make 
them contribute to the firm establishment of despotic government. 

Absolutism feels it imperatively necessary to avert the impending 
revolution in Germany, which will imperil all the absolute crowns in 
Europe : the insurrection of the populations of Germany, Hungary, 
and Poland, supported by France and Italy, would be too powerful 
to be suppressed even by the power of Russia. The crowned heads 
of Europe have reduced the management of popular impulse to a 
system. It is their policy to anticipate its demands, and prevent an 
outbreak, by achieving, themselves, what the people would otherwise 
attempt by revolution. Such was the policy of Napoleon in Italy, 
and of Austria and Prussia in wresting the German duchies from 
Denmark. So, it is the policy of Absolutism, now, to unite Ger- 
many under some sovereign devoted to absolutist principles, before 
the German masses rise for the establishment of national unity. 

The agitations of Europe by no means indicate the necessary de- 
cline of Absolutism. They only show that the form of Absolutism 
which has hitherto prevailed, where absolute governments are con- 
tinually clashing with each other, and with the national aspirations 
of populations, cannot continue. Absolutism may take a new lease 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 429 

of existence under a new arrangement. The day of feudal despot- 
ism is over. If Absolutism is to continue, it must change its base, 
and found its power upon National Despotism. 

This change of base is now the policy of Absolutism. Russia 
will no longer attempt to maintain feudal thrones in Central Europe. 
It is her aim to erect a great national throne in Germany, firmly 
committed to Absolutism, and resting upon the proud and devoted 
attachment of a great and imperial nation. The union of Germany 
beneath the Prussian scepter before the impending outbreak of the 
Nationalities occurs, is essential to the safety of Absolutism. The 
German mind, inflamed and revolutionary, would set all Central 
Europe on fire. But satisfy the national aspirations of Germany 
by uniting it under the Prussian scepter ; then make it an imperial 
nation ruling neighboring subject dependencies, — and Germany will 
be firmly arrayed on the side of Absolutism, and will aid in crush- 
ing out the national aspirations of the populations held in subjection 
to the German empire. 

Make Germany under the Prussian sovereign what France was 
under the first Napoleon, — the imperial center of subject prov- 
inces, — and Absolutism will have no more devoted adherent. Ger- 
many must be brought by this means to the support of Absolutism ; — 
or Absolutism must fall, and all the Nationalities achieve their in- 
dependence. The only hope of Absolutism lies in establishing a 
new Germanic empire over the countries of Western Europe. 

Russia, as the champion of Absolutism, is committed to this aim. 

But the policy of Russia, in this regard, is not swayed solely by 
the conservative principles of Absolutism. The union of Germany 
under Prussia, and the establishment of a German empire over 
Western Europe, are measures necessary, not only to suppress rev- 
olutionary tendencies and give stability to despotism ; they are, 
also, especially essential to the success of the ambitious designs of 
Russia. 

Dynastic ambition has long swayed the counsels of that empire. 
Its policy in all European questions, for the last century and a half, 
has been dictated by the ambition of universal dominion. Peter the 



430 the world's crisis. 

Great, who died 1725, left a celebrated will, which marked out the 
policy Russia has consistently followed, ever since. 

He directed that Russia should first effect the conquest of Turkey; 
that it should then propose, either to France or Austria (Prussia* 
was then too feeble a power to attract attention), a division of Eu- 
rope between them ; that, this consummated, it should afterward 
overturn the feeble, discordant Empire of the West ; — when, Europe 
being subdued, the empire of the earth would be easily attained. 

The Russian government at once entered upon the career so 
strikingly indicated in this remarkable document. Ten vears after- 
ward, it entered into an Austrian alliance — an alliance which was 
firmly maintained for three-quarters of a century, during which 
period Russia steadily endeavored by every means to farther the 
consolidation of Austrian power in Germany. In 1736, the two 
powers entered into an alliance for the conquest of Turkey, which 
awakened the jealousy of the rest of Europe ; but, after a war of 
two years duration, they were foiled by the persevering valor of the 
Turks. — In 1740, when, upon the accession of Maria Theresa, the 
grand coalition was formed for the dismemberment of the Austrian 
dominions, Russia was the firm friend of Austria, and was only pre- 
vented from rendering active and efficient aid, by a Swedish war 
purposely excited by the coalition. — During this war, Frederic the 
Great, who had just ascended the Prussian throne, wrested from 
Austria the German states, Silesia and Glatz. This loss of power 
did not comport with the policy of Russia. That policy required 
that the power of Austria should be supreme in Germany ; and in 
1756, the Czarina Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, formed 
an alliance with Austria for the purpose of conquering and dismem- 
bering Prussia. The French government was weak enough to be 
cajoled into this coalition, which, if it had succeeded in its objects, 
would have rendered the imperial house of Austria absolute in Ger- 
many, and enabled it to wield the whole power of the German na- 
tion in furtherance of the common objects of its own, and Russian 
ambition. Frederic the Great won his title by his heroic resistance 
of this overwhelming coalition. But he must have succumbed, had 
not the Czarina died just as his resources were exhausted. Peter 
III., who succeeded to the Russian crown, was won by admiration 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 431 

of Frederic to abandon the policy of his predecessor, and form an 
alliance with Prussia. This seasonable aid enabled Frederic to re- 
trieve his ruined fortunes, by a last desperate effort forcing his 
.remaining adversaries to consent to a peace. It is probable the 
Czar Peter was convinced by Prussian heroism, in contrast with 
Austrian incapacity, that Prussia was the German power whose alli- 
ance would best forward the ambitious designs of Russia. If such 
was his policy, he did not live to execute it; for his desertion of 
Austria and abandonment of the traditional policy of the empire just 
in the moment of success, gave rise to a conspiracy which cost him 
his throne and life. Russia was true to ambition and the Austrian 
alliance, and sacrificed an emperor to its policy. — Again, in the 
reign of Joseph II. of Austria, Russia manifested its desire to in- 
crease Austrian power : its sympathy with his efforts to consolidate 
his dominions was openly expressed; it also sanctioned his pro- 
posed exchange of the Netherlands for Bavaria, — an arrangement 
which, if effected, would have vastly increased the power of the 
House of Austria in Germany; and it concluded an alliance with him 
for the conquest and division of Turkey. These various intrigues, 
all looking to the aggrandizement of Austria, were thwarted by the 
intrigues and diplomacy of the Prussian government, which knew 
that the aggrandizement of Austria involved the fall of Prussia. 
The king of Prussia fomented discontents which prevented the con- 
solidation of the Austrian dominions; thwarted the projected ex- 
change of the Netherlands for Bavaria, by a German league ; and, 
at the moment of decisive success in the Turkish war, excited an 
insurrection in the Netherlands, which compelled Austria to withdraw 
its armies from Turkey. — Again, it is this aim of Russia which gives 
the key to Russian and Prussian policy, during the early period of 
the French revolution. While Prussia rejoiced in the humiliation 
of its Austrian rival, Russia battled long and fiercely to maintain 
Austria against the assaults of the French. But, at length, the re- 
peated defeats of the Austrian armies revealed the intrinsic weak- 
ness of the state, and its utter unfitness ever to aid in the ambitious 
designs of Russia. — The Russian government now gave up the Aus- 
trian alliance forever. 

Upon abandoning the idea of an Austrian alliance, Russia em- 



432 the world's crisis. 

braced the alternative presented in the will of Peter the Great, and 
adopted the policy of a French alliance. It lent itself to the ambi- 
tious aims of Napoleon I., until it became evident that the conqueror 
would not admit Russia to an equal partition of the spoils. As soon 
as the Czar found that Napoleon would not consent to the Russian 
conquest of Turkey, he became his determined foe, and at length 
effected his downfall. 

But Russia was still true to the ambitious traditions of the empire, 
and to the far-seeing policy marked out by Peter the Great. Its 
ulterior aims could only be attained by an alliance with Germany, or 
France. All idea of an alliance with either Austria, or France, was 
now abandoned. The distracted empire of Austria was too feeble to 
effect the Union of Germany beneath its scepter ; and public opinion 
was too advanced in France, to permit that country to be a safe ally 
of despotic ambition. But Prussia, in the partition of Poland, which 
it was the first to suggest, had indicated its willingness to commit 
itself to the policy of Absolutism ; and the obstinate valor of the 
Prussian troops promised to render Prussia a most useful ally. 
Henceforth, Russia looked upon Prussia as its destined coadjutor, 
and lent all its influence to the aggrandizement of the monarchy. 

The treaties of 1815 show the adoption of this policy by the Rus- 
sian government. In those negotiations, it laid the train by which 
Prussia was to be elevated to the head of the German -empire. By 
Russian influence, great accessions of territory were granted to Prus- 
sia, which elevated it to the front rank among European nations; 
and Germany, instead of being placed under the emperor of Austria, 
as before the French revolution, was erected into a confederation of 
states without an imperial head. The arrangements of the treaties 
of 1815 freed Prussia from all subordination to Austria, and gave it 
such an accession of power as placed it upon an equal footing with 
its rival. — Russia has ever since maintained the same policy : events 
have showed that the most cordial understanding exists between the 
two governments, which mutually further each other's ambition, in 
utter disregard of the Balance of Power, and the interests of the 
other states. Before the Crimean war, when France and England 
were negotiating to secure the neutrality of the German Powers, 
Austria, which was fully aware of the changed German policy of the 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 433 

Czar, and beheld in it the omen of approaching ruin, cordially ac- 
quiesced in the movement of the Western Powers ; but Prussia, on 
the contrary, threw all its influence in favor of the Autocrat, and 
even displayed a willingness to take up arms in his behalf, until it 
saw that Germany would not follow its lead in such a movement. — 
The policy of exalting Prussia as a maritime state induced the Czar 
to sell the Prussian sovereign a port on the North Sea, in the duchy 
of Oldenburg. — The same policy of exalting Prussia at the expense 
of Austria, induced Russia to urge forward Napoleon's attack upon 
Austria, in Italy. — Hence, also, the acquiescence of Russia in the 
Prussian appropriation of Holstein; and also, in its more recent 
acquisition of the territories of the minor German princes, overrun 
during the last war. — These are all steps to the goal of German 
unity under the Prussian crown, so necessary to the consummation 
of the ambitious aims of the Czar. 

Germany once united under the Prussian scepter, and the Prusso- 
German sovereign in cordial co-operation with Russia, — the coali- 
tion might dominate Europe without let or control. The Austrian 
monarch would then be reduced to the Hungarian crown, and com- 
pelled to second the wishes of his powerful neighbors, under penalty 
of dethronement. No power in Europe could prevent the allied 
despots from seizing upon Turkey. A movement upon the flank 
from Russia, might be supported by an army marching to the rear 
from Germany, and the allies would meet upon the Hellespont. 
The movement would be far beyond the reach of the other European 
powers, who could not even make an effort to prevent it. 

What powers in Europe could resist the coalition of Russia and 
Germany, then, wielding, in addition, the power of Turkey and 
Hungary ? 

HI". The Present Posture of Affairs. 

Three years ago, the Prussian government occupied a position of 
singular advantage. Its aggrandizement was a part of the pro- 
gramme of each of the conflicting forces which divided Europe. 
Russia wished to secure the union of Germany beneath the sway of 
Prussia : in order to fortify Absolutism ; and to open the way for 
a career of conquest, by means of a Prussian alliance. France 
28 



434 THE world's crisis. 

wished to further the same end, that it might secure the Prussian 
government to a liberal policy, and obtain its co-operation for the 
cause of Progress. Prussia had only to decide which alliance it 
would choose. 

The Prussian monarchy is a feudal power, and all its traditions 
link it with Absolutism. Its possessions were all obtained, and are 
still held, by the right of the sword. Its sympathies are all Abso- 
lutist. It has maintained a suspicious understanding with Russia 
for fifty years, and has always been ready to second the ambition of 
that power. — Ambition, moreover, prompted it to prefer the Russian 
to the French policy. Napoleon's policy offered it only the throne 
of Germany, as one among the independent nations of Europe : the 
Russian programme offered it the empire of Western Europe ; and 
if the issue between the allied despots afterward came to the arbit- 
rament of the sword, the chances were at least equal that the mili- 
tary spirit of the German nation would bear away the victory from 
the phlegmatic Muscovites, and achieve for Prussia universal do- 
minion. Influenced by all these considerations, Prussia would have 
decidedly preferred to achieve the union of Germany by means of 
a Russian alliance, if Russia had been sufficiently powerful to en- 
able it to achieve the aim of its ambition. 

But while Napoleon was supported by the friendship, or even the 
neutrality of England, he was master of the situation : Prussia could 
not take the first step in the career of aggrandizement without his 
consent. Without being assured of his concurrence, it could not 
have ventured to annex Holstein and Schleswig. England, Austria, 
and all the minor German states were opposed to it : had France 
taken a stand on the same side, Prussia must have abandoned the 
undertaking, even though supported by the power of Russia. The 
Prussian government had no alternative but to secure the counte- 
nance of Napoleon, on any terms he chose to impose. Throughout 
the German war, therefore, it assumed the character of a decided 
champion of progressive principles. And even at the close of the 
war, it maintained the same attitude ; and probably with a real in- 
tention of carrying out its engagements, and keeping faith with 
Napoleon ; for, supported by a liberal government in England, the 
French emperor was in a position to enforce the maintenance of his 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 435 

policy, notwithstanding the accession of power obtained by Prussia 
in the war. France, Italy, Austria, and the minor German states, 
backed by England, still held the Balance of power, and could strip 
Prussia of its recent acquisitions, and hold Russian ambition in 
effectual check. 

"While under a Whig and Liberal administration, Great Britain 
gave a steady support to the liberal cause in Europe. Supported 
by England and Italy, Napoleon was the arbiter of the Continent. 
He might either maintain Austria against Prussia, while the national 
enthusiasm was rising that would overturn both their thrones ; or, 
if Prussia were docile, he might direct the movement, until it ulti- 
mated in the establishment of all the Nationalities. 

But the political revolution in England which brought the Tories 
into power, at once changed the face of European politics. England 
holds the balance of power in Europe. The Tories at once with- 
drew the government from its attitude of co-operation with France, 
and threw all its influence in favor of Absolutism. The Tory organs 
commenced pouring volumes of abuse upon Napoleon, and gratula- 
tions upon Prussia, rejoicing in the prospect of its becoming the 
equipoise of France. The Prussian government saw that, 'with the 
support of England, a Russian alliance would enable it to achieve 
its aims, in defiance of Napoleon. No sooner did it see the Tories 
firmly established in power and exciting it to achieve the union of 
Germany despite of France, than it discarded the policy of acquies- 
cence in French principles, and placed itself boldly upon the plat- 
form of Absolutism. It positively refused to carry out its engage- 
ment to submit the question of the annexation of the territories it 
had overrun to the votes of the population. It now declared that it 
had conquered those territories, and would hold them as conquests, 
treating with contempt the idea of consulting the people on the 
question. It thus threw the gage of defiance at the feet of Napo- 
leon, and reasserted the principles of Absolutism on which the 
monarchy is founded. 

The animus of the press of the several countries plainly shows 
the present drift of European politics. The press of Prussia and 
France are indulging in mutual and fierce recriminations, which in- 



436 

dicate an approaching rupture between the governments. The Tory 
press of England is inciting Prussia to a rupture with France, and 
urging it on to attempt the consolidation of Germany. The press 
of Russia is glorying over the present position of Prussia, and de- 
claring that an alliance of the two countries may bid defiance to the 
rest of Europe. Napoleon himself maintains his usual calm reti- 
cence. He has displayed no mark of resentment at the tergiversa- 
tion of Prussia. But he has announced the policy of France in a 
calm sentence, expressing his conviction that the recent treaty has 
established the political state of Europe for years to come. He will 
not suffer the Absolutist Prussian government to consummate the 
union of Germany beneath its sway ; but will, at all hazards, main- 
tain the existing status in Germany. 

The Tory ascendancy in England threatens to be fatal to liberty 
in Europe. 

While England seconded the policy of Napoleon, the French em- 
peror had Prussia, like a led hound, held unwillingly in his leash, 
and compelled, however unwillingly, to do his behests. Events, too, 
were approaching a crisis, where the far-seeing, patient policy of 
Napoleon would attain a definitive ascendancy, and enable him to 
reconstruct the Nationalities in such a manner as to render des- 
potism powerless ever after. And he would have attained his object 
without a struggle, by the universal consent of Europe, Russia alone 
excepted. But the Revolution of the British government has 
changed everything — reversed everything. Just in the crisis of the 
struggle between Progress and Absolutism, when the former was 
about to achieve a decisive and final victory, this fatal change of 
sides reverses the relative strength of the opposing parties, and 
will give to Absolutism a victory ruinous to the world. 

Before this change, the parties stood — France, England, and Italy, 
for Progress — Russia for Absolutism. In such a balance of power, 
the liberal governments were able to control Europe, and compel 
Prussia to submit to their policy. But, now, the British abandon- 
ment of the cause of Progress leaves France and Italy alone; and 
encourages Prussia to follow out the traditional policy of the 
monarchy, and seek to achieve its aims supported by a Russian al- 
liance. Parties now stand — England, Russia, and Prussia, for Abso- 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 437 

lutism — France and Italy, for Progress — with Austria the bone of 
contention. 

The dangers arising out of the question of nationality are but 
just begun. A great reaction against liberal government has set in. 
It will progress until it threatens the very existence of liberty in the 
world. Hitherto the question of Nationalities has been menacing 
to monarchs : it has now grown big with danger to liberty. Hitherto 
Napoleon, as the champion of Nationalities, has dominated Europe ; 
and the despots have trembled at his frown: henceforth, the despots 
may sway Europe ; and Napoleon will be overmatched, or must suffer 
events to be governed by their dictation. The despots have, for 
fifteen years, waged a defensive struggle, divided among themselves, 
and drifting without a defined policy upon the current of events : 
henceforth, Absolutism will assume a firm aggressive attitude, with 
every advantage in its favor. The French emperor has hitherto 
been the arbiter of Europe. Holding the Nationalities in his leash, 
and awing the despots from any attempt toward reaction, he steered 
the vessel of European politics with a firm hand, safe between the 
Scylla of revolution and the Charybdis of universal war. Austria 
was too entirely at the mercy of revolution to provoke him : Prussia 
was too feeble to act alone ; Russia was too assiduously engaged in 
promoting internal reforms, and recruiting her resources exhausted 
by the Crimean war, to attempt any active intervention in European 
affairs. But, now, Russia has recovered from exhaustion ; Prussia 
has become a power of the first magnitude : an alliance of the two 
powers, countenanced by England, can dominate Europe. Na- 
poleon stands alone, or supported only by the embryo government 
of Italy. He can no longer sway events. Absolutism rules the 
hour. 

Sect. 2. — The Impending Struggle, — Triumph of Absolutism. 

I. The Impending Struggle. 
The certainty of an approaching struggle between Absolutism 
and Progress is beyond question. We cannot venture a suggestion, 
however, as to the time of its occurrence. Either party may pre- 
cipitate it by an early movement; or both may, by common consent, 
defer to the latest moment a crisis fraught with utter ruin to one or 



438 the world's crisis. 

the other. But the nature of the circumstances forbids a very long 
procrastination. The revolutionary spirit in Germany must bring it 
on; and it cannot be many years, as we have seen, before Germany 
will be agitated with national enthusiasm. 

It is evident that there is, even now, an explicit understanding 
between Russia and Prussia. The Muscovite government shows 
that it is ready to lend all its power to further the ambitious aims 
of Prussia. The past career of Prussia shows that power to be re- 
solved upon achieving the union of Germany beneath its sway ; and 
it cannot effect its object alone, but needs an alliance, either with 
France or Russia. Napoleon has manifested his readiness to further 
its aim, on certain conditions ; and Prussia would not forego the 
French alliance, unless Russia had entered into a positive engage- 
ment to aid it in achieving the union of Germany. Its rupture with 
Napoleon and its defiant attitude toward France, augur too surely 
an understanding with the Czar. 

The first object of this alliance is undoubtedly the union of Ger- 
many under the Prussian crown. But the ambitious policy of 
Russia renders it evident that the alliance embraces the further 
object of securing for Russia an equivalent, in Turkey, for the 
Prussian acquisitions in Germany. 

But the possession of Constantinople by Russia involves the ne- 
cessity of further Prussian acquisitions in Western Europe. The 
Southern part of Germany is not a sufficient offset to Turkey. In- 
deed, the first Napoleon declared that the Russian acquisition of 
Turkey was more than an equipoise to the union of all Western 
Europe under the French Empire. If Prussia acquired no extra- 
German territory, Russia, with Turkey annexed, would completely 
overshadow Germany, and speedily reduce it to a subordinate position. 
Prussia must have equivalents for the Russian acquisition of Con- 
stantinople. — Where but in Western Europe are those equivalents 
to be obtained ? — And, with Germany united, and Turkey annexed 
to Russia, what European powers could prevent the combined despots 
from partitioning Europe as ambition and policy dictated? 

The Tory British government is a party to this understanding 
between Russia and Prussia. A significant editorial has recently 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 439 

appeared in the London Times, the organ par excellence of the Tory 
aristocracy, which broadly intimates the future policy of the British 
Tory government. The Times depreciates the importance of the 
acquisition of Constantinople by a foreign power, declaring it a mat- 
ter of little concern to England, and insinuating that a British pro- 
tectorate over Egypt would afford ample indemnity. 

The British Tory administration will contribute all its power to 
insure complete success to the reactionary movement. The British 
government is reckless of consequences. The Tory nobility are will- 
ing to save their privileges on any terms ; and, if the advancing 
movement of the age, which is threatening their feudal rights, can- 
not be arrested save by Russian predominance, they are ready to 
hail the triumph of Absolutism. They would rather enjoy their 
privileges under the shadow of Russia, than lose them by the ad- 
vance of republican thought. The failing cause of the English 
nobility cannot long withstand the march of 'popular sentiment, un- 
less reinforced by a great political reaction on the Continent ; and 
the Tory government of Great Britain will enter zealously into the 
schemes of the allied despots. 

It is not probable, however, that the British government will 
solicit an explanation from the despots of their ulterior aims. It 
will be content with the surface of things, and will refuse to look 
beyond. The Tories will concentrate their minds and the minds of 
the British nation upon the union of Germany under the Prussian 
crown, and will refuse to look further. They will see that this 
movement settles definitely the question of Nationalities ; puts an 
end to revolutionary tendencies ; extinguishes Erench ideas of pro- 
gress ; and promises the crowned heads and the feudal nobility of 
Europe a long enjoyment of their rights, free from the specter of 
impending revolution ; — and this will suffice them. 

The question also has its popular aspect, in which it will win the 
applause of the unthinking multitude. The Prussian dynasty is 
closely allied to the royal house of England, and the union of Ger- 
many under that crown may be represented as a triumph of British 
policy, — establishing a powerful ally on the continent, as a strong 
barrier against French and Russian ambition. But the crowning 
popularity of the movement will lie in its surface aspect of cham- 



440 

pioning German nationality against the opposition of French 
jealousy. 

By vailing all ulterior aims, the enterprise of the despots will be 
highly popular in England, and the Tories will be able, should it 
become necessary, to cast all the power of Britain into the scale 
against France and Progress. Were all the aims of the despots 
unvailed, the sturdy independence of the English yeomanry would 
drive the Tories from their fraternization with despotism, or unseat 
them from power before the grand scheme were accomplished. The 
British public must be hoodwinked, until the despots shall have 
passed the crisis of their movement. It will be time enough to 
throw off the mask, when, Germany united and committed to Abso- 
lutism, a counter-revolution in English politics can no longer turn 
the wavering balance in favor of Progress. Until then, the catch- 
word of the Absolutist despots will be, The National Union op 
Germany. 

The National Union of Germany : the coming war, may, from 
motives of expediency, be based upon some other issue; but what- 
ever the ostensible ground of war, this will be the real issue that 
will soon convulse Europe with a war of giants. Russia, Prussia, 
and, if necessary, England, will take the field in favor of it; France 
and Italy must oppose it to the death. 

For Napoleon knows that the only hope of countering the ambi- 
tious aims of the despots, and preventing their complete ascendancy, 
lies in preventing the union of Germany under the Prussian scepter. 
That once achieved, the vast accession of Prussian power would 
enable them to override all opposition. Their career of ambition 
could not afterward be checked. While willing to forward the ag- 
grandizement of liberal Prussia, Napoleon will oppose to the utter- 
most any further accessions of power to Prussia allied with Absolut- 
ism. He must take a determined stand against the proposed con- 
solidation of Germany, and stand or fall upon the issue. 

It is impossible to say when the struggle may come on ; conflict- 
ing motives counsel both parties to delay, and to immediate action. 
Potential reasons influence Napoleon to assume a prompt initiative: 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 441 

his best hope of success lies in assailing Prussia before her power 
over her recent conquests is consolidated, and re-establishing the 
former status by a bold aggressive campaign ; and his advancing years 
•warn him of the expediency of bringing the existing complications 
to an issue, while his life and power are in their prime, instead of 
leaving them to his own old age, or to the minority of his son. — On 
the other hand, the present preponderance of power on the other 
side admonishes him of the prudence of waiting : perhaps a change 
in English politics bringing the Liberals into power, may secure to 
France a British alliance again, and give it the preponderance of 
power ; or, the approach of revolution in Germany may render the 
struggle less hopeless. 

The motives which influence the Absolutist governments are 
equally conflicting. By delay, Prussia will have time to consolidate 
its power; and infirmities or death may remove Napoleon from their 
path. — But on the other hand, the danger of counter-revolution in 
England against the Tories, and of revolution in Germany against 
Absolutism and in favor of France and Progress, admonish them of 
the expediency of striking promptly, while their present excessive 
preponderance of strength gives them every advantage. 

There are three possibilities : Napoleon may take a prompt initi- 
ative, and make a fierce assault upon Prussia; or the despots may 
take the initiative; or both parties may stand armed, face to face, 
each afraid to strike, until revolution in Germany shall force the issue 
upon them. 

Whichever direction events take, the triumph of Absolutism seems 
certain, with its necessary consequence, the utter overthrow of Pro- 
gress. At the danger of being tedious, we will examine the three 
contingencies, somewhat in detail. 

1st. First Contingency,- — French Initiative. 
If Napoleon decides that his best hope of success lies in striking 
Prussia before its power is consolidated, two alternatives are before 
him. — (1.) He may form an alliance with Austria and Italy, and 
take the field against Prussia supported by Russia and England, for 
the avowed purpose of re-establishing the former balance of power. 
But this course would place him at great disadvantage, both in re- 



442 the world's crisis. 

spect of policy, and military force. He -would assume the attitude 
of a disturber of an arrangement in which all Europe has acquiesced; 
and the predominance of force against him would leave hardly a 
hope of success. — (2.) He would more probably desire to force a 
single combat between France and Prussia. If so, he would make 
cause of war upon some new issue, which does not involve the na- 
tionality question ; then, if a rapid initiative should enable him 
strike Prussia down, he as conqueror, backed by Austria and Italy, 
might strip her of her recent acquisitions, and re-establish the 
former balance of power in Germany. This policy would give Na- 
poleon his best hope of success, and it is probable he would adopt 
it, if he could induce Russia and England to stand aloof while he 
assailed Prussia. 

But there is very little probability that those powers will suffer 
him to engage in a single-handed war with Prussia. Great Britain 
is the self-constituted preserver of European peace. The British 
government has attempted to mediate in every contest that has 
arisen between the other powers of Europe, for the last twenty 
years. Any attempt of Napoleon to force a war upon Prussia alone, 
will be countered by the mediation of England, as the professed 
friend of both parties, but really as the secret partisan of Prussia. 
A conference would be proposed by England, which, being accepted 
by Prussia and acceded to by Russia, Napoleon could not reject; 
then, such proposals would be made by England and backed by Rus- 
sia, as Prussia would accept ; and if Napoleon were inclined to re- 
ject them and go to w r ar, he would find himself confronted by all 
three of the Absolutist powers arrayed against him as a disturber 
of the peace of Europe. 

An initiative on the part of the French emperor is hardly pos- 
sible, unless he goes openly to war with Prussia backed by Russia 
and England; when he must seek the alliance of Austria and Italy, 
and make an open struggle upon the direct issues involved. If he 
decides upon this, he might gain some advantages, at first ; but a 
Russian invasion of Hungary would recall Austria to the defense of 
her own dominions; another Russian army in Northern Germany 
would enable Prussia, supported by British subsidies, to protract 
the struggle, until British blockades of French ports would break 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 443 

down the finances of France, and leave it a prey to a grand onset 
of the despots. — Napoleon's only hope in such a struggle would lie 
in a vigorous offensive, obtaining great advantages, and conquering 
a peace upon his own terms at a blow. But the dashing strategy 
of Napoleon First, by which an inferior force compensates its weak- 
ness by rapidity of attack, is no longer practicable. It would be 
countered by the skillful engineering tactics of recent wars, which 
would enable the despots to protract the struggle, until, between 
military expenditure and British blockades, French resources would 
be exhausted. Then, the allies would assume the offensive ; British 
descents would keep Italy on the defensive ; a Russian army in 
Hungary would occupy Austria ; a rapid march w r ould overrun the 
South German states and annex them to Prussia ; — and then the 
whole weight of Eastern Europe would be rolled upon France. The 
issue of such a struggle could not be doubtful. 

2nd. Second Contingency. — An Absolutist Initiative. 

Many considerations combine to induce the Absolutist powers to 
carry out their programme with promptitude, waiting only long 
enough for Prussian power to become consolidated. 

Revolution in Germany is imminent at no distant day ; and in the 
uprising of populations, there is danger that feudal Prussia, the 
oppressor of Poland, the sympathizer with Absolutism, the ally of 
Russia, will not be the chosen champion of German patriots. A 
struggle with the Nationalities supported by France and Italy, would 
be full of danger to Absolutism. The active support of England 
would be necessary, in that event, to give Absolutism the victory ; 
and they might fear that a movement on the part of the British gov- 
ernment in open support of Absolutism against the Nationalities, 
might cause a revolution in England that would place the Liberals 
in power, and range the country firmly on the side of Progress. It 
is the interest of the despots to run no unnecessary risk. The late 
political revolution in England has given them, for the time, an un- 
expected advantage, and they will not wish to forfeit the favor of 
Fortune by unnecessary delay. They will wish to bring the pend- 
ing issues to a crisis while they are sure of the support of Great 



444 the world's crisis. 

Britain. Their vast preponderance of strength, also, will embolden 
them to assume a prompt initiative. 

Should the despotic powers decide to assume the initiative, the 
choice of three lines of policy is open to them. — (1.) They may seek 
to effect the union of Germany under the Prussian crown, by means 
of negotiation with Austria and the other Southern German states ; 
or, failing this, (2.) They may assail Austria, and aim to carry out 
their object by force of arms ; or, (3.) They may begin the conflict 
upon a side issue, by Russia's making an attack upon Turkey. 

It seems probable that, before attempting to achieve the union of 
Germany by force of arms, negotiation may be first resorted to. 
The position of England holding the balance of power between Ab- 
solutism and Progress may enable the British government to dictate 
the plan by which the union of Germany shall be achieved. If so, 
the policy of Great Britain will incline that government to propose 
some plan that will obtain the assent of Austria to the programme. 
The British government, as the friend of Austria, may propose that 
the House of Hapsburg retain possession of Hungary and the Polish 
territories, but cede its German provinces to Prussia, and accept of 
indemnity out of the Turkish territories. 

This proposition, if carried out in good faith, would be eminently 
advantageous to Austria. Such an arrangement would settle for- 
ever the distracting question of the Nationalities. It would appease 
the restless aspirations of Germany; and would make Hungary 
imperial, and the seat of the new empire, when it would become as 
warmly attached to the Austrian dynasty as it has been restless in 
a provincial condition. Poland alone would remain restive ; but 
surrounded and pressed by Imperial Russia on the East, Imperial 
Germany on the West, and Imperial Hungary on the South, the 
Poles would have no recourse but submission. The arrangement 
would give the Austrian sovereign an empire absolutely secure 
against internal revolution. The loyal Hungarians would easily 
keep the Polish and Turkish provinces in subjection. 

Again, the arrangement would be eminently advantageous in 
another point of view. The Austrian territories are now without 
seaports, and are shut out from commerce. But the possession of 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 445 

the states of Servia, Bosnia, Croatia, and Dalmatia, south of the 
Danube, and the principalities of Wallachia, and Moldavia, on the 
north bank of the river, would give Austria a broad seaboard upon 
the Adriatic, and the navigation of the Danube down to its mouth. 
With such advantages of commercial position, the new possessions, 
though not more extensive than its present German dependencies, 
would be of much greater value. It would open up a commercial 
career which would soon double the resources of the empire. 

If the Austrian government could rely upon the good faith of 
Russia and Prussia, it would accede to such an offer; and, if so, 
Napoleon could make no effectual opposition. The united power of 
England, Russia, Germany, and Hungary would be arrayed in its 
favor, against which France could not venture to contend. 

But it is probable that Austria would fear to trust the faith of its 
powerful and ambitious neighbors, and would demand that all the 
great European powers should guarantee the arrangement. Napoleon 
might possibly consent, if the Belgic provinces of France were re- 
annexed to his dominions, so as to appease public sentiment in 
France, and equalize the balance of power, disturbed by the increased 
power of Prussia and the house of Hapsburg. But England would 
not consent to this; nor would Russia and Prussia agree to any 
increase of French territory. 

This would probably frustrate any such arrangement. Austria 
would not enter into it in opposition to the wishes of Napoleon ; for 
it knows that it would have to lean on France and Italy for support 
against the ambition of Russia and Prussia. It would prefer its 
present position, however critical, to an arrangement which would 
place it completely at the mercy of its ambitious neighbors. 

If Austria should decline (as it probably would) the proposition 
to exchange its German territories for a Turkish indemnity, it will 
be the policy of the reactionary powers to achieve the union of Ger- 
many by force of arms, before the revolutionary spirit issues in 
outbreak. 

They may begin the conflict by a direct assault upon the South 
German states ; or they may provoke it in a more politic manner, by 
a Russian attack upon Turkey. 



446 the world's crisis. 

Whatever phase the issue may present, Napoleon will be under 
the necessity of forming an alliance with Italy and Austria, to main- 
tain the existing status ; he will thus be placed in the false attitude 
of a supporter of despotism, while the despots will have the popular 
role of assertors of the national principle. — Under such circum- 
stances, the great preponderance of force on the other side would 
easily strike down the French alliance. Judging merely from the 
map, England, Russsia, and Prussia, would be matched not unequally 
by France, Italy, and Austria. But this is only in seeming. It 
must be remembered that Italian troops will not face Russian and 
German bayonets. Moreover, the majority of the Austro-German 
population would be on the other side : Prussia would advance the 
popular issue — The National Union of Germany — which would spread 
disaffection throughout all the Austrian territories.— If left to choose 
their own time for movement, the agents of Prussia will busily 
promote disaffection in the Austrian territories ; then, when the im- 
pulse in behalf of nationality shall have ripened to the proper point, 
a sudden advance of the Prussian armies upon Southern Germany, 
and of Russia upon Hungary, would strike Austria down before 
France and Italy could come to her assistance. Prussia alone has 
beaten Austria and all the princes of Germany, combined, — and 
beaten them without the aid of disaffection in the opposing ranks. 
Now that all Northern Germany is united to Prussia, how easy would 
be her triumph, when her advancing armies would find friends at 
every step ! And when the power of England and Russia is thrown 
into the same scale, how inadequate is the power of Napoleon to 
uphold the tottering Austrian empire against their combined assault, 
supported by internal disaffection ! 

Then, Austria stricken down, the contest would resolve itself into 
a conflict between France and the rest of Europe. 

The strong probability is, that Russia and Prussia with the aid and 
countenance of Great Britain, will, within a few years, overwhelm 
the strenuous opposition of France, and achieve the union of Ger- 
many under the Prussian crown, either with the consent of Austria, 
or by conquest. 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 447 

3d. Third Contingency, — Both Parties Belay until the Outbreak of the 

Nationalities. 

This contingency is in the highest degree improbable. It is the 
interest of Prussia to delay her movement until the national feeling 
in Southern Germany rises to such a pitch as will second her aims. 
But as soon as German sentiment attains that standard, it is then 
her policy to strike, before enthusiasm rises to a point in harmony 
with French principles of progress, and consequently antagonistic 
to a throne so thoroughly committed to Absolutism. 

But nations are not always guided by the dictates of sound policy. 
A mighty purpose sometimes stands awed in the presence of great 
attempts. Caesar hesitated at the Rubicon. Mere irresolution 
(though that does not seem a failing of Bismark) may keep the 
despots hesitating on the brink of a great war that must involve all 
Europe, until the Nationalities rise in revolution supported by 
France and Italy. This is the best hope for liberal institutions ; but 
even in this event, the assistance of the Tory government of En- 
gland will enable the despots to crush the movement. For in every 
such revolution, there are royalists who rally round the throne from 
sentiment, and peasants who are influenced by the priesthood and by 
hatred of their landlords to support the crown against the patriots, — 
and these elements, supported by Russian bayonets and British 
fleets and subsidies, would triumph over the patriotic movement, and 
enable the triumphant despots to hurl the united force of Europe 
against France. 

The Tory ascendancy in England is fatal to Progress. We can 
conceive no contingency in which the power of Great Britain will 
not enable the despots to achieve a decisive victory over Progress, 
and unite Germany under the Prussian crown. 

II. Abuse of Absolutist Ascendancy. 

How will the despots use their success ? 

When Prussia is head of imperial Germany, what will be the con- 
sequence of this triumph, to France and Italy, and the other liberal 
governments in Europe? 



448 the world's crisis. 

Of two things, one will happen. Napoleon will endeavor to coun- 
ter their policy, and be stricken down ; or, overawed by the strength 
of the coalition, and despairing of successfully opposing it, he will 
proclaim non-intervention, and suffer the despots to carry out their 
programme unopposed. The first is the more probable. 

1st. If Napoleon is beaten in endeavoring to thwart the aims of 
the despots, he will have nothing to hope from their forbearance. 
The French empire with its progressive principles, is a standing men- 
ace to Absolutism, which the latter, in the hour of victory, will not 
fail to destroy. His unsuccessful resistance of their ambition would 
be stigmatized as a renewed example of the ambition of the Bona- 
parte dynasty ; and the fiat of overthrow would be uttered against 
it — for the sake of the peace of Europe ! Another invasion of 1814 
would occur, and France would be crushed beneath the heel of 
despotism. 

2d. But take the most favorable prospect for the cause of Pro- 
gress that the defection of Great Britain leaves : suppose Napoleon, 
hopeless of resisting the combination of the despots, proclaims non- 
intervention, leaving them to carry out their programme unopposed. 
Still, the overthrow of Liberal government in Europe will be equally 
certain. 

In this hypothesis, the union of Germany will soon be achieved : 
either with the consent of Austria ; or by force of arms. 

1. The first alternative is most favorable to Liberty. 

Suppose then, this arrangement consummated — and the Prussian 
crown possessed of Germany — while Turkey is divided between 
Russia and Austria, as an equivalent for the Prussian accession of 
territory. What a revolution do these changes work in the aspect 
of Europe ! 

The first effect of the arrangement would be to quiet the restless 
aspirations of Nationalities. Germany united, with part of Poland 
dependent upon the empire, the German nation becomes at once 
enthusiastically attached to the new dynasty which has elevated the 
nation to imperial grandeur ; for, however zealous a nation may be 
in asserting its own independence, it never hesitates to aggrandize 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 449 

itself by trampling down the independence of its neighbors : Hun- 
gary also becomes the seat of Austrian power ; and the Hungarian 
nation is ardent in support of a dynasty which elevated the country 
to imperial power : the Greeks will not trouble their despots for ages 
to come : Poland alone may be restless ; but Poland is crushed be- 
tween Russia, Germany, and Hungary, until the feeble aspirations 
of nationality are extinguished. The arrangement frees Absolutism 
from all its dangers. 

It also quadruples its power in Europe. Heretofore, Turkey has 
exerted no active influence upon the political destinies of Europe ; 
and Germany and Hungary have been neutralized by the antagonis- 
tic attitude of the governments and the people : France and Russia 
have been the only powers on the Continent capable of exerting a 
positive influence upon political events. In the nugatory condition 
of the other Continental powers, and the neutral attitude of England, 
the balance of power on the Continent has been maintained by the 
antagonism and equipoise of France and Russia. — But under this 
arrangement, the equipoise between the liberal and absolute powers 
exists no longer. It wrests Turkey, and Germany, and Hungary, 
from their nugatory position, and converts them into the strong, 
earnest partisans of Absolutism. France stands alone, or supported 
by the embryo government of Italy, against all Eastern and Central 
Europe, arrayed in opposition to the principles of governmental 
progress. — How vast the preponderance. The German empire alone, 
with its Polish dependencies, is more powerful than France. The 
Hungarian empire, firmly based upon the attachment of the loyal 
Hungarians and the inertia of the Greek population, is as powerful 
as France. Russia with its colossal power increased by its acces- 
sions of Turkish territory, overmatches France almost as two to one. 

Two antagonisms in the presence of each other, the one so pow- 
erful, the other so weak, must soon come into collision. France 
might avoid offense ; but the innocence of the lamb never averts the 
assault of the wolf. The liberal constitution of the French empire 
is alone sufficient offense to despotism possessed of an overwhelm- 
ing superiority of strength. The parties to the Holy Alliance of 
1815 would avail themselves of their ascendancy to renew their alli- 
ance against Progress, and lay forever the specter of revolution, 
29 



450 THE world's crisis. 

which has, for twenty years, sat at their feasts. The Austrian 
dynasty would be so completely in the power of the despots whose 
dominions envelop its own, that it must yield absolutely to their 
dictation. Despotism always abuses its ascendancy. Banded Europe 
would be hurled against France. 

2. The same result would follow the consummation of the union 
of Germany, by force, upon the ruins of Austrian power. 

In the event of the union of Germany under Prussia, no conceiv- 
able circumstances could prevent the despots from entering upon a 
career of conquest which would subject Europe to their sway. As 
we have seen, the ambition of Russia has long aspired to a con- 
quering career, and Prussia is evidently prepared to abet her aims. 
Prudence also will urge them to enter upon the career to which am- 
bition invites. The spread of republican thought will then be the 
only danger the despots will have to apprehend. The example of 
America is constantly menacing Absolutism with danger. England 
is rapidly ripening for Republicanism. Republicanism is constantly 
aggressive, and if the despotic powers wait its advance, it will, ere 
long, undermine their thrones. 

France, especially, is a mine that would soon explode. The 
French nation is content with an emperor, only on condition of his 
maintaining the ascendancy of France abroad, and advancing the 
principles of liberal government. As soon as it perceives that Ab- 
solutism has proved too strong for Napoleon, it will become restless 
beneath his sway. If it cannot cope with Absolutism by dynastic 
power, it will assail it with revolution, and, proclaiming a republic, 
summon the oppressed populations of Europe to follow in the path 
of Freedom. Then, such an outburst in Germany as occurred in 
1848, supported vigorously by French bayonets, might shatter the 
thrones of the despots to ruins. 

The independence of France is incompatible with the safety of 
Absolutism. If Absolutism is to be safe, France must be subjugated. 
The mere overthrow of the Napoleonic dynasty, and the re- 
establishment of the Bourbons, will not suffice. That expedient was 
tried in 1815; and it resulted in the French Revolution of 1848, 
which shook the power of Absolutism to its base, and which, in its 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OF ABSOLUTISM. 451 

results, has, for nearly twenty years, kept it trembling for existence. 
The danger of revolution can be averted only by carrying out the 
programme of 1793 : until France is disarmed, and permanently 
garrisoned by foreign soldiers, Absolutism can never be secure. 

The despots, in the hour of triumph, will not hesitate to take the 
precautionary measures necessary to secure their power. They will 
endeavor, by every means, to prevent the recurrence of the dangers 
they will have so narrowly escaped. Let Germany once be united 
under the Prussian crown, and the despots will not hesitate to enter 
upon the career of conquest to which prudence and ambition will 
invite them. The Russian policy will be carried out. France would 
no doubt make a heroic resistance. But a resistance as heroic as 
that of 1793 would not avail against vastly superior numbers. The 
old strategy of frontier maneuvers has passed away. Napoleon I. 
taught despots how to conquer. The French empire would fall 
before the rapid march of overwhelming numbers ; and liberal gov- 
ernment would disappear on the Continent of Europe before the 
aggressive career of dominant Absolutism. 

And then what would be the fate of England ? — 
When the English people discover too late the betrayal of the 
cause of Progress by the Tory Aristocracy, their indignation will 
probably hurl the party from power. But what will this avail, when 
the Continent is at the feet of Absolutism! A country so rich, and 
so defenseless, could not escape the grasp of the despots. The same 
prudential motives which urged the conquest of France, would urge, 
with even greater force, the subjugation of England. Republican 
thought is making rapid strides in Great Britain. The moral in- 
fluence of the country is dangerous to Absolutism. Eventual antag- 
onism is certain. And with time for preparation and alliance with 
America, its immense resources would enable England to equip fleets 
that would hold the continent in blockade, and eventually break Ab- 
solutism down by exhaustion. The despots would seek to prevent 
this possibility by conquering the country while it lay exposed de- 
fenseless to their arms. The war fleets of the Continental nations, 
when combined, are twice as powerful as that of England ; a descent 
might easily be effected ; and, an army once landed, resistance would 



452 the world's crisis. 

be vain. Indeed, it seems not improbable that the Tory Aristocracy 
would welcome the invaders. Driven from power by a popular re- 
action against the ruin they had brought upon Europe, and with all 
their privileges at stake, rather than submit to the rule of the me- 
chanics, the British Tory Aristocracy would not hesitate to summon 
the despots to their aid. An Aristocracy will always betray its 
country, to preserve its privileges ! 

And, then, America ! — What will be our fate ? — 

Despotism will not stop short in the career of victory. It will 
make no compromise with Liberty. It has learned that the world 
is not wide enough for Absolutism and Freedom, both. In our age, 
Absolutism and liberal government cannot coexist. The irreconcil- 
able enmity between them can only terminate in the destruction 
of one or the other. Unfettered Freedom is continually widening 
its sway, and sapping the foundations of despotic government. If 
Absolutism is to live, Freedom must be destroyed : if Freedom lives, 
Absolutism must perish. 

In the present state of the world, despotism can only exist by 
attaining universal dominion. Ambition is the only safety. The 
dominating nation may be warmly attached to the throne by the 
pride of conquest, and the spoils of the earth; and, converted into 
a nation of soldiers, it might rule a disarmed world, for ages. 

We may scoff the idea of universal dominion, but it is by no 
means an impracticability. Rome swayed the Mediterranean na- 
tions for a thousand years, and, during the entire period, no nation 
ever revolted that had once been subdued. It were far easier, now, 
to sway the world. Then, the means of communicating intelligence 
and moving troops, were equally slow. A year was spent in receiv- 
ing intelligence of a war or a revolt, and dispatching an army to 
the frontier. Now, the telegraph flashes tidings round the earth 
faster than the sun can move ; and steamers and railways can, in a 
month, transport an army to the antipodes. With proper means of 
transportation, telegraphic orders might concentrate, in a week, an 
overwhelming force upon any revolting nation. A revolting nation ! 
How can a disarmed nation revolt? A Roman province might re- 
volt; for when the weapons were swords and spears, they might be 



IMPENDING TRIUMPH OP ABSOLUTISM. 453 

secretly made by any country smith. But can muskets and cannon 
be secretly manufactured? Can powder manufactories be secretly 
established? or magazines of the thousand articles of supply indis- 
pensable to equip a modern army ? In the present state of military 
advancement, the world, once disarmed, could never revolt. An 
overwhelming force might be sent from the imperial country to the 
antipodes, long before an insurrectionary nation could equip an 
army. Let us not attempt to drive away apprehensions with a 
sneer, until despotism is prepared to fix the yoke upon our necks, — 
a yoke which, once imposed, never can be shaken off. 

Ambition and prudence will alike incite Russia and Germany to 
enter upon a career of universal conquest. No power in Europe 
can withstand them. We shall be compelled to engage in a death- 
struggle with Despotism at the head of the marshaled forces of Eu- 
rope. When that struggle comes, God grant that half our country 
may not be driven by oppression to welcome the invader, whose feet, 
once firmly planted on our soil, might never be dislodged ! Upon 
us the destinies of the earth will depend, and I trust we shall not 
fail ! It will be, it must be, a desperate conflict. But I believe in 
the destiny of Republicanism ! I believe in the mission of Amer- 
ica ! I believe in the God of Providence ! 

In giving to England the colossal power she wields, and which 
will be thrown at the critical moment into the wrong side of the 
scale, we have brought the world to the verge of political shipwreck. 
Ah ! when the crisis comes in Europe, were America but in a con- 
dition to turn the wavering balance in favor of the cause of Progress ! 
We might have been, had we been true to our Constitution, and 
trodden the path of greatness Nature marked out for us. We may 
be, still, if we in this crisis of our destiny return to a constitutional 
administration of the government. If, at a future day, the cause 
of Liberty and Religion is exposed to deadliest peril, the historian 
who chronicles that dreadful conflict, will attribute it all to our 
violations of the constitution of our country. 



Note. — My view of European affairs was completed in the Fall of 1866, and 
they are presented without change. The course of subsequent events has dem- 
onstrated the correctness of the view of the situation then taken. 



454 the world's crisis. 

In the imbroglio that sprung up on the Luxembourg question, Napoleon 
showed his anxiety to precipitate a conflict with Prussia on a side issue between 
the two governments, which did not involve the question of nationality. But 
the prompt interposition of the British government saved Prussia from a con- 
flict, for which it was not prepared. Since then, seemingly convinced that he 
will not be suffered to engage Prussia single-handed, Napoleon has visited the 
emperor of Austria, and has, no doubt, come to an explicit understanding with 
regard to the future policy of the two states. 

The Italian question, however, was not so near a final solution as I then sup- 
posed. The turn taken by German affairs has embarrassed Napoleon, and com- 
pelled him to adopt a cautious policy with regard to the Pope, which has 
prevented, as yet, the annexation of the Papal States to the kingdom of Italy. 
It is now the policy of Napoleon to unite all the Catholic States, if possible, 
against the ambition of Russia and Prussia. To make head against their am- 
bitious aims, he will need the alliance of all the Catholic Powers, — Spain and 
Portugal, as well as Austria and Italy. This change of the situation renders 
it necessary to conciliate the Pope. And Napoleon, who, two years ago, virtu- 
ally abandoned the temporal sovereignty of the Pope to the kingdom of Italy, 
now finds it advisable, in order to conciliate Austria and Spain, his natural allies 
against Prussia and Russia, to become the champion of Papal authority. 

No doubt Napoleon is acting in cordial co-operation with the Italian govern- 
ment. Victor Emanuel would like to annex the Papal territories. But to at- 
tain this object, he will hardly co-operate with Prussian ambition. He will 
rather, if he is wise, relinquish his private ambition for the time, to promote the 
the general safety, and cheerfully co-operate with the policy of Napoleon in 
maintaining the authority of the Pope, as a concession to the Catholic Powers. 
But this understanding is necessarily a State secret between the two courts. 
The king of Italy cannot venture to take part against the movement of the pat- 
riotic fillibusters, for fear of losing popularity with the Italians. He therefore pro- 
fesses to favor the movement against Rome, while he, no doubt, secretly invites 
the movement of French troops to drive Garibaldi from the Papal territories. 

From present indications, Napoleon must continue to protect the temporal 
power of the Pope, as a propitiation to the Catholic powers, who are his natural 
allies against Russian and Prussian ambition. 

Events that have occurred since the chapters on European affairs were com- 
pleted confirm the views there presented of the imminence of the approaching 
conflict. The antagonism of France and Prussia; the sympathy of Englr.nd 
and Russia with Prussian ambition ; the understanding between France and 
Austria, — all point to a grand conflict, inevitable, however it may be deferred. 



BOOK III. 

PROPOSITION III. 

The present is a CRISIS in which the Government of the United 
States may, by a wise and conservative policy, enable Our COUN- 
TRY to enter upon a course of Unexampled Prosperity ; and exert 
an influence upon FOREIGN AFFAIRS that will arrest the Indus- 
trial and Political Evils now menacing the World with ruin : But 
where an ill-advised policy will involve the COUNTRY in Financial 
Ruin; and suffer the WORLD to drift, without restraint, into a 
Chaos of convulsion, threatening with overthrow the cause of Human 
Advancement. 



the world's crisis. 457 



BOOK III. 

i 

THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

This is the World's Crisis. 

Whether we look at home or abroad, whether we contemplate the 
condition of the world in its industrial, its social, or its political 
aspect, we are equally impressed with the conviction that this is a 
momentous crisis in the destiny of the earth. 

Dangers arise on every hand, menacing with ruin the cause of 
human advancement. The world's industry has been warped into 
abnormal development; social life is reeling with excitement, and 
threatens to smother civilization with the fungus growth of prurient 
development; in the political world, Despotism is recovering from 
the severe blows inflicted upon it within the last century, and is 
threatening Liberty with a stern reaction. Industrial, social, and 
political evils seem hastening to a crisis, as though emulous which 
shall first strike down the hopes of man. 

If we analyze the causes of the dangers which overshadow the 
world, the centralization of industry and commerce in the hands of 
England, will be found the prime cause of them all. 

The industrial evils under which the world is laboring have their 
origin in British centralization of commerce. It oppresses the in- 
dustry of all other countries, compelling them to sell raw material 
and provisions to a foreign market, accepting prices diminished by 
the profits of various speculators and' the cost of heavy transporta- 
tion. It also places them under the necessity of buying manufac- 
tures from a foreign country, at prices enhanced by speculation and 
mercantile profits, both on the raw material, and the manufactured 
article. Thus selling cheap and buying dear, they are impoverished 
by a losing traffic. Every country in Christendom is becoming 



458 the world's crisis. 

annually more deeply involved in debt to England. That country is 
becoming the annuitant of the world: and unless the tendency to 
centralization is arrested, it will soon have the nations bankrupt 
dependencies of its imperial grandeur. 

The same centralization of industry and commerce is causing the 
general excitement so deleterious to the social and moral advance-, 
ment of our age. It has stimulated commercial exchange into un- 
due activity, making raw material and provisions — bulky articles, 
which should be consumed and manufactured in the countries which 
produce them — the prime commodities of traffic. This has led to 
excitement in traffic, withdrawing millions from productive industry 
to engage in some of the departments of trade, and massing popu- 
lation in cities under such circumstances as to corrupt the fountains 
of social life. The result has been wide-spread excitement, attended 
with social demoralization throughout the civilized nations of the 
earth. 

The same centralization of commerce and wealth in the hands of 
England has given that country the balance of power, which has 
enabled it to give to Absolutism a vigor which, in this age it has 
never before possessed. It is the Tory government of England 
which gives Russia and Prussia the power to control the affairs of 
Europe at their will, and which, unless a timely check is given to 
the evil, will enable them to trample down liberty in Europe, and 
endanger free institutions throughout the world. This last and 
most imminent danger derives its threatening aspect entirely from 
the alliance of British wealth and power with the Absolutist govern- 
ments. The power of trade and commerce is thus thrown into the 
balance, in favor of despotism. 

This state of things will continue as long as the Tories retain 
control of the British government. All their sympathies and in- 
terests ally them with Absolutism against the principles of progress. 
It is now evident that the Tories will remain in power so long as 
England continues to enjoy the prosperity she now possesses. The 
Liberal leaders are endeavoring to obtain a Reform Bill* which 

*This was written before the passage of the recent Eeform Bill by the En- 
glish Parliament. 



the world's crisis. 459 

shall so extend the suffrage as to give their party the control of the 
government. But the Tories are resolved to so frame the measure 
as, to destroy the Whig party, by strengthening their own and the 
Liberal parties; knowing that in a contest between the landed aris- 
tocracy and the mechanics, the Middle class aristocracy will range 
themselves on the side of the former. From the known devotion of 
a great number of nominal Whigs to Tory principles, it seems 
probable that the Tory ministry will be able to carry a bill through 
Parliament, substantially such as they desire. If they succeed, they 
will turn to their own advantage the entire Reform movement, 
strengthen their own party, crush the Whigs, and place the Liberals 
in a decided minority in Parliament. The Reform bill now before 
Parliament will doubtless so adjust the suffrage, as to establish the 
Tories firmly in power. 

But the Tory position has one weak point. In extending the 
suffrage they will increase the power of the people, and they can 
control the votes of the enfranchised masses only so long as no 
period of general discontent intervenes. Whenever an industrial 
crisis shall inflict general suffering upon the English masses, the 
people will cast off the influence of the Aristocracy, and with their 
votes bring the Liberals into power. Until then, the Tories will 
control the government with strong parliamentary majorities. 

The only hope of getting the Liberals into power, and arraying 
the British government on the side of Progress in the coming Eu- 
ropean struggle, lies in bringing about a period of industrial distress 
which will wrest the enfranchised masses from Tory influence. It 
must not be supposed that, in urging this consummation, the writer 
is actuated by hate of England, or a desire to cause yet deeper suf- 
fering among the oppressed masses of that country. On the con- 
trary, he is influenced by a sincere desire to promote the true in- 
terests of Britain. Her centralization of industry is a false system. 
It is oppressing the British people no less than foreign nations. It 
does not benefit the country ; it only increases the colossal fortunes 
of an already overgrown aristocracy. Besides, a false industrial 
system must sooner or later, be overthrown. The sooner the crisis 
comes, the less suffering it will involve. Far better that it should 
come at a period when it will stimulate the English people to unseat 



460 THE world's crisis. 

the aristocracy from power, and place their government in alliance 
with liberty in the approaching crisis, than that it should be deferred 
until tbe manacles of despotism are riveted upon themselves, and 
upon mankind. 

A blow to the commercial centralization of England would cause 
general discontent among the suffering masses. The thousands of 
operatives thrown out of employment would demand labor and re- 
lief from taxation. They would point to half the lands of the coun- 
try devoted to pleasure grounds, pasturage, and the growth of 
timber. They would notice the unequal distribution of taxation, of 
which more than half is imposed upon the suffering people, while 
the property of the rich is exempt from public burdens. They 
would demand that taxation should be removed from articles chiefly 
consumed by the poor, — that excises and customs upon articles con- 
sumed by the laboring classes should be abolished. They would 
demand that the public revenues should be raised by a property tax, 
which would free industry from public burdens, and compel the aris- 
tocracy to devote their parks and forests to tillage, and thus afford 
food and employment to the millions languishing in want. 

The Tories would never yield to these demands, without a struggle. 
They would bring all the engines of wealth and power to bear, in 
order to control elections. But the famine-stricken people would 
not recede. A fair election would elevate the Liberals to power : 
an attempt to control the polls by fraud or violence would lead to 
revolution. 

If this revolution in English politics precedes the great coming 
struggle in Europe between Feudalism and Progress, all will be 
well :. the British Government, under Liberal rule, will place itself 
in the van of Progress, and assure oppressed populations of its 
sympathy and support. Meantime, our own country, through the 
measures necessary to break down British monopoly, would make 
rapid strides in manufacturing industry and commercial greatness. 
Our moral influence would afford a powerful support to liberal move- 
ments abroad, and a combination of the United States, France, and 
England, would overawe the despotic powers. An European Con- 
gress might then be held, whose decisions would re-establish the Na- 
tionalities, reduce Russia within proper limits, and settle without an 



the world's crisis. 461 

appeal to the sword the dangerous issues which have so long agitated 
Europe. We should become the great leader in the march of ad- 
vancement. Stimulated by our example, and encouraged by our 
sympathy and moral aid, the nations would tread the path from 
monarchy to republicanism, and, at no distant day, thrones would 
give place to universal freedom. 

If the world is to be saved from the dangers which menace it, the 
centralization of Great Britain must be overthrown. We are more 
deeply interested in the achievement of this object than any other 
country. To us will inure the advantages resultant from it; upon 
us, especially, will be inflicted the evils it is engendering. America 
more than any other country is the victim of the social excitement 
gendered by the British centralization of commerce ; it will be the 
first country doomed to bankruptcy ; and, if the programme of Ab- 
solutism furthered by England is consummated, the United States 
will be the victim immolated upon the broken altar of freedom. It 
behooves us to bend our undivided energies to the overthrow of this 
baneful centralization. It should be made the chief aim of our 
policy. To this grand purpose every thing else should be made 
secondary. 

The centralization of commerce in the hands of England was occa- 
sioned by our departure from the principles of the Constitution, 
which gave that country the opportunity to engross the cotton man- 
ufacture, and thus lay the foundation of that centralization it has 
since attained. We thus dwarfed our own manufactures, perverted 
our industry, and gave England advantages which she has used to 
the utmost. 

We must now undo our work. We have built England up. We 
must now, in self-defense, and in the interests of human progress, 
pull her down. The only hope of averting a great catastrophe lies 
in breaking down the British centralization of industry and com- 
merce, and becoming, ourselves, a great manufacturing and com- 
mercial nation. We must return from our departures, and enter, 
though at the eleventh hour, the path of industry for which nature 
designed us. 

The cotton manufacture is the only one in which we can, at pres- 



462 THE world's crisis. 

ent, successfully compete with England; and it is the only branch 
of industry of sufficient importance to overthrow the commercial 
monopoly of England, if wrested from her. We have much fewer 
advantages in attempting to compete with her in woolen manufac- 
tures. She can obtain an unlimited supply of wool from Australia, 
South America, and the Mediterranean, at prices cheaper than we 
can, at present, grow it. Moreover, the woolen manufacture is not 
of sufficient importance, even if wrested from England, to cause the 
downfall of her centralization of industry. 

The cotton manufacture is the vital point. In 1859, the exports 
of Great Britain were nearly £120,000,000, ($600,000,000,) of which 
nearly £50,000,000 ($250,000,000) were cotton manufactures. In 
1861, the cotton famine had begun to influence the manufacture, but 
even then, cotton fabrics comprised £47,000,000 ($235,000,000) out 
of £125,000,000, ($625,000,000),— the entire exports of the coun- 
try. When we reflect that, besides the cotton goods exported, a 
great quantity is consumed in Great Britain, instead of woolen and 
flaxen goods, leaving those to be exported in larger quantities ; and 
when we further reflect that the cotton exports are used in exchange, 
to stimulate the production of many articles of British commerce 
which would not otherwise be produced ; and, furthermore, that the 
transportation of cotton goods and raw products received in ex- 
change, creates a demand for British coal, and railway iron, and 
machinery, — we shall see that more than half of the commerce of 
England is based on the manufacture of cotton goods. In depriving 
her of the cotton manufacture, we should, at a blow, divert one-half 
of the commerce of Great Britain to ourselves. 

Accomplish this, and we shall rescue ourselves and the world 
from the calamities now impending. It will at once arrest the ab- 
normal system of commerce that has prevailed, stop the drain of 
wealth from all the world to be centralized in England, and avert 
from us the bankruptcy otherwise inevitable ; it will check the social 
excitement generated by centralized commerce, now threatening the 
downfall of civilization ; it will avert the political ruin now over- 
shadowing the world. 

We can do this. No other nation can. We alone have he en en- 



the world's crisis. 463 

dowed by nature "with advantages, which, wisely used, will enable us 
to outrival Britain, and dispossess her of her baneful supremacy. 
We can do it. We must do it. In this, the most important crisis 
that has ever occurred in the history of the world, all the great in- 
terests of humanity hail us on to the rescue. 

We may achieve this aim. But it will be no easy task. It will 
challenge all our energies, and require the adoption of the wisest 
policy. We might, in 1860, have wrested from Britain the scepter 
of commerce, with little difficulty. But the events of the last five 
years have almost wrecked our industry, and have enabled England 
to fortify her position to such an extent as to almost defy compe- 
tition. 

It now becomes a question of the utmost importance to consider 
the policy necessary to be adopted, in order to achieve the overthrow 
of British monopoly. This will be the aim of the remaining portion 
of this work. It is necessary, however, before entering upon this 
discussion, to notice the elements of the present situation, together 
with the causes which have brought affairs to the present pass. 
This will be the subject first before us. 



464 THE world's crisis. 



PART I. 

THE SITUATION, AND ITS CAUSES. 

It will appear, in the ensuing chapters, that the dangers of the 
present situation arise entirely from the unconstitutional inter- 
ference of the Federal government with the internal interests of the 
country. 

We propose, in the first place, to give a brief resume of the train 
of causation already traced, showing that all the past evils of the 
republic arose out of the unconstitutional course of the Federal gov- 
ernment, and that the recent Civil War, itself, is but the necessary 
result of causes thus set in operation ; and, secondly, to trace the 
evil effects of the War, especially upon our industry as in competi- 
tion with Great Britain. 

We shall thus obtain a clear view of the elements of the situation, 
and be the better prepared to consider the measures necessary to 
be adopted, to enable us to enter into successful competition with 
Great Britain. 



CHAPTER I. 

A RESUME. 

The evil consequences of the unconstitutional intervention of the 
government in the internal industry of the country, as already traced, 
may be stated in their regular order, as follows : — 

First Line of Causation. 
1. The influence of the Bank and Tariff fostered manufactures in 
New England, which was the only section of the country that had 
capital to engage in them. 



A RESUME. 46i> 

2. The Bank and Tariff raised the scale of prices throughout the 
country, and increased the cost of production in the same ratio. 
This operated greatly to the disadvantage of the South, which pro- 
duced cotton at prices enhanced by an inflated currency and by 
high duties, while it sold in a foreign market at prices graduated by 
a specie standard. 

3. The Eastern market relieved the West from stagnation, and 
gave an impetus to its industry that made it the most prosperous 
section of the country. 

4. Emigration was thus diverted from the South to the West; and 
the development which Southern industry would have derived from 
a large emigration was prevented. 

Second Line of Causation. 

The comparatively slow development of Southern industry was 
productive of the most unfortunate results : — 

1. It prevented the South from growing its own supplies besides 
supplying the English cotton market, and compelled it to concen- 
trate its entire industry upon cotton, importing its supplies in great 
measure from the West. 

2. This extensive demand in the East and South compelled the 
West to concentrate its industry upon agriculture, and thus diverted 
it from manufactures. 

3. The absence of sufficient emigration to the South gave rise to 
the slave trade between the states : fortifying slavery in the border 
states ; and, in the cotton states, increasing the hardships of the 
negro, and generating a slave aristocracy. 

Third Line of Causation. 

The Industrial System that now sprung up, in which the East 
was chiefly devoted to manufactures and merchandise, the South to 
planting, and the West to supplies, led to a third train of industrial 
results : — 

1. The inability of our New England factories to compete with those 
of Great Britain, especially when the cost of manufacturing was en- 
hanced by a scale of prices inflated by a redundant currency and a 
30 



466 THE world's crisis. 

protective tariff, prevented us from becoming a great manufacturing 
country. 

2. This system of industry, in which no section produced its own 
supplies, gave rise to an excessive internal commerce where pro- 
visions and raw material, as well as manufactured articles, were 
hurried to and fro from one end of the country to the other. 

3. This excited system of interchange gave rise to speculation, 
and massed vast populations in cities ; and it thus generated a social 
excitement impairing the judgment and depraving the moral per- 
ception of large masses of our people, and fitting them to run to any 
extreme in morals, politics, or religion. 

Fourth Line of Causation. 

1. The oppression of the South by the Bank and Tariff was read- 
ily perceived by Southern statesmen, (though they attributed the 
combined influence of both exclusively to the latter,) and caused a 
most determined and excited opposition to the Tariff system. This 
was met as resolutely by the friends of the system, who were chiefly 
in the North and West. The political antagonism was intensified by 
the social excitement which now began to pervade the country. 

2. The Tariff generated antagonistic interests where nature in- 
tended all to be harmony, and the agitation of this issue first gave 
rise to the sectional bickering which afterward rose to such a height, 
and ultimated in civil war. 

3. The Tariff agitation, by exciting fierce passions on both sides, 
first caused a collision between Federal and State authority, which, 
under the Constitution, was never contemplated, and ought never to 
have occurred. In Nullification, it planted the seeds of Secession 
and Coercion, — the germs of civil war and national ruin. 

4. The exigencies of the Tariff agitation compelled Andrew Jack- 
son to introduce into the administration the innovation, Rotation in 
office ; which ended in making politics a trade, and the government 
a prize of contest to ambitious and grasping place-hunters, who sac- 
rificed the best interests of the country to the lust of office. 

5. The contest over the Tariff question generated passions among 
the advocates of protection which caused them to originate and fos- 
ter the slavery agitation as a means of retaliation upon the South. 



A RESUME. 467 

And, afterward, when the West and the Middle states united with 
the South to hreak down the protective system, the advocates of 
the Tariff seized upon the abuses of Slavery, caused mainly by the 
Tariff system, to unite the entire North against the South, and en- 
able them again to set on foot the protective system. 

6. And, now, the social excitement fostered by our industrial sys- 
tem, and the political corruption engendered by rotation in office, 
exerted a combined influence to embitter the sectional agitation, 
rendering both sections deaf to the voice of reason and the counsels 
of moderation, and plunged the country, despite the restraining ef- 
forts of conservatism, headlong into civil war. 

Fifth Line of Causation. 

1. The location of our factories in New England, causing us to 
fail of becoming a manufacturing country, left British enterprise to 
engross the manufacture of our cotton, and to construct upon the 
basis of that manufacture, a gigantic commercial centralization, 
rendering the whole world tributary to its industry. 

2. This commercial monopoly, based upon a violation of just 
commercial principles, is preying upon the industry of all nations, 
compelling them to exchange raw produce for manufactures, to sell 
cheap and purchase dear, and is making England the annuitant of 
all countries to an extent which threatens the world with bank- 
ruptcy. 

3. This commercial centralization, making staple commercial 
commodities of provisions and raw material, — articles which ought 
never to enter into the system of commercial interchange — has 
given rise to a general social excitement throughout Christendom, 
developing erratic impulse, and tending to demoralization. 

4. The commercial centralization of England has given that coun- 
try a wealth and influence which invest it with controlling power in 
the present political condition of the world; — power which it has 
hitherto used in critical periods in favor of Absolutism, and which 
is now strengthening despotism for a decisive conflict with freedom 
in Europe. 

Sixth Line of Causation. 
The Civil War from which we have just emerged was the direct 



468 the world's crisis. 

result of the Tariff policy of the country and the industrial and 
political forces it had set in operation ; and it became, in turn, a 
more potent cause of evil to the country and the world, than any we 
have hitherto noticed. — It remains to trace in the detail its impor- 
tance demands, the baneful results flowing from our Civil War. 

The influence of the War requires attention, both under its nega- 
tive, and positive aspect. Its evils are to be sought, both in the 
good it prevented, and in the positive evils it inflicted. We will 
view it in both these aspects : tracing 

1st. The negative influence of the War, in arresting our career 
of normal prosperity ; and 

2d. The positive evils to which the War has given rise. 

The extent of the subject demands that one or more chapters be 
assigned to each of these topics. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR— 1. ITS NEGATIVE IN- 
FLUENCE IN ARRESTING OUR CAREER OF NORMAL PROS- 
PERITY. 

We have now traced the line of industrial, social, and political evils 
which flowed from the Bank and Tariff as their primal source. But, 
as in the human system, so in the body politic, diseases run their 
course; when reaction sets in, tending to repair the ravages of disease 
and restore healthy action. As the influence of the Bank of 1791 
had run its course in 1812, leaving the country with a tendency to 
enter once more upon a course of normal industry ; so, in 1860, the 
influence of the Bank and Tariff policy had spent its force upon the 
industry of the country, and the causes were already at work which 
would have arrested abnormal development, corrected the evils from 
which we suffered, and restored us to a healthy condition. But, as 
the War of 1812 arrested the return to a healthful state, and set in 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 469 

operation a train of causes which plunged the country into new 
evils ; so the Civil War of 1861 arrested the tendency to healthy 
reaction, and precipitated evils an hundredfold worse than any we 
had endured. 

The War of 1861 was an unpardonable blunder on the part of all 
concerned. Every step that led to it was a blunder, from the organ- 
ization of the Abolition party, to the passage of the first Ordinance 
of Secession. It will remain to posterity the most memorable ex- 
ample on record of the worse than folly of attempting the violent 
removal of evils, instead of leaving them to the operation of 
natural laws. The Abolition and Free soil parties were suc- 
cessively organized to check the spread, and effect the overthrow of 
slavery, when the operation of natural laws would have effected 
its peaceful extinction within half a century. The organization of 
those parties was a blunder. They originated in the shortsighted 
policy of men who were unable to read the signs of the times, — 
who could not see that Nature had affixed boundaries, beyond which 
slavery could not pass; nor trace the industrial causes which doomed 
the institution to an early and peaceful extinction ; — men, who were 
too impatient to wait the sure operation of nature's laws, and too 
faithless to trust the advancement of the world to the guiding hand 
of the Almighty ; — Uzziahs who, excited to frenzy by the prevailing 
excitement, upon seeing the ark of progress tottering, as they 
supposed, stretched forth sacrilegious hands to its support. 

It will be remembered that our abnormal course of industry, with 
all its consequent evils originated in the diversion of emigration 
from the South. This prevented the South from over supplying the 
English cotton market : and compelled it to concentrate its labor 
upon cotton; to rely upon the West in a great measure for supplies ; 
and to purchase slaves from the border states. The want of emi- 
gration to the South perverted the entire industry of the country. 
While the labor of the South continued inadequate, industry could 
not resume its normal channels. So long as the South could not 
supply the English cotton demand, that section would continue to 
purchase slaves from the border states, and to concentrate its in- 
dustry upon cotton, depending upon the West for supplies. And so 



470 the world's crisis. 

long as this state of things continued, Slavery would maintain its 
vigor, and continue to be oppressive : and the West would be too 
busily engaged in growing agricultural supplies, to turn its attention 
to manufactures. Before the evils under which the country labored 
could cease, the South must acquire sufficient labor to over supply 
the cotton market. As soon as this end were attained, our warped 
industry would begin to leave its erratic channels, and return to its 
natural course. 

Now, the South was, for years, approximating to this condition. 
For forty years the maxim of the Southern planter was, "Buy more 
negroes, to raise more cotton ; and raise more cotton, to buy more 
negroes." As each succeeding crop grew larger, the purchase of 
negroes became more extensive. The labor of the South increased 
in arithmetical progression. Rapidly as the cotton market extended 
under the impulse of British enterprise, the labor of the South in- 
creased more rapidly still. Year by year, a full supply of the cotton 
market was approximated more nearly. In 1860, the end was 
achieved. The two full crops of 1859 and 1860 overstocked the 
market. Vast quantities of cotton were stored in English ware- 
houses; and English factories manufactured so far in excess of the 
demand, that eighteen months of short supply, consequent upon our 
civil war, hardly sufficed to reduce the stock of goods on hand to 
the normal quantity. It was evident that production had at length 
outstripped consumption. Southern labor had at length so far in- 
creased, as to over supply the demand for cotton. 

Let us mark the necessary effect this state of things would have 
produced upon the industry of the country, if the war had not in- 
tervened to arrest our natural progress. We will trace its influence, 

1st. Upon the institution of Slavery. 

2nd. Upon the industrial condition of the West. 

Sec. 1. — The Influence of the Over- supply of the Cotton 
Market upon the Institution of Slavery. 

The over-supply of the cotton market, as its first effect, would 
cause the planter to turn a part of his labor to the production of 
supplies for home consumption, and for adjacent town and city 



TIIE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 471 

markets. The purchase of negroes from the border states might 
continue a few years longer, until the labor of the South were suf- 
ficient to grow all necessary supplies, besides growing cotton enough 
to supply the demand. Then, other investments would be more 
profitable than negroes, and planters would cease to buy slaves from 
the border states. 

The slave trade between the states would cease. 

I. The Effect of the Cessation of the Slave Traffic upon Slavery in 
the Border States. 

1st. Effect upon Slavery in Maryland and Virginia. 

Slavery has not, for years, been profitable in Maryland and Vir- 
ginia, except in the raising of negroes for the Southern market. 
The farmers in those states have long been unable to meet their 
expenses by the cultivation of the soil. Two or three young negroes 
were annually sold to meet the expenses of the plantation. What 
could those farmers do, when the Southern demand for negroes 
ceased? 

In Virginia and Maryland, tobacco is the only crop that will afford 
profitable employment for a large force of negroes upon a plantation. 
If the farmer increased his tobacco crop in the effort to make up 
the deficit arising from the want of market for surplus slaves, his 
land would soon be exhausted : if he continued to limit his crops 
to the capacity of his land, his negroes would be an incumbrance 
instead of a profit, and an annual deficit of thousands of dollars, 
formerly made up by the sale of slaves, would threaten him with 
beggary. 

What resource would the Virginia farmer have, whose farm was 
thus overstocked with negroes? 

It might be his first impulse to rid himself of the oppressive num- 
ber of his slaves, by sending a portion of them with his children to 
settle in the South or West. But the want of money to meet the 
expenses of removal, and to purchase land at the destination, would 
render this impracticable. His negroes being unsaleable, the only 
method of raising money would be the sale of his land. But the 
sale of part of his land, to obtain means to send away part of his 



472 the world's crisis. 

negroes, would not better his condition. — The Virginia farmer who 
was oppressed by the number of his negroes exceeding the capacity 
of his land, would find it his only resource to sell his land and 
migrate with his slaves to the South or West. The migration of 
slave owners would soon leave too few negroes in Virginia, and 
Maryland, and Delaware, to influence public sentiment, and those 
states would follow the example of states farther north, by estab- 
lishing a system of gradual emancipation. — Virginia came very near 
declaring gradual emancipation in 1832. The demand of the 
Southern market afterward strengthened the institution. The with- 
drawal of that market would soon have ripened public sentiment in 
favor of emancipation. 

2nd. The Influence of this State of Things upon Slavery in Ken- 
tucky and Missouri. 

What would be the effect of this migration of slaveholders into 
Kentucky and Missouri ? 

Hemp is the only crop in those states, upon which large gangs of 
negroes can be profitably worked in a limited space. But the con- 
centration of immense numbers upon the hemp crop, would soon glut 
the market and reduce the staple to a merely nominal value. What 
would the slaveholders then do ? If they turned their attention to 
tobacco, the very limited market for the article would be glutted, 
with a consequent decline of price ; and the same result would follow 
as in Virginia, — the exhaustion of the soil. Grain crops require too 
extensive a surface in proportion to labor, for gangs of negroes to 
be profitably employed upon them. In the absence of a Southern 
market to which the Western negroes might be sent, the negro pop- 
ulation of the West would soon increase, by immigration and natural 
growth, to such a degree as to become burdensome to their owners. 
No Western crop would enable the Western farmer to meet the nec- 
essary expenses of his plantation. — The slave owner of the Western 
states would be under the necessity of selling his lands, and mi- 
grating with his slaves to the cotton states, leaving the border states 
to go into gradual emancipation. 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 478 

II. The Effect of this State of Things upon Slavery in the Cotton States. 

Two causes would soon render this negro population concentrated 
in the cotton states an injury to the country, and a burden to the 
owner, of which he would gladly rid himself: — 

1st. The over-population of negroes in the cotton states would, in 
less than half a century, have rendered emancipation and colonization 
an unavoidable necessity. 

2nd. The cotton market would be gorged, and the labor of a plan- 
tation of slaves would not justify the expense of maintaining them. 

Let us, in the first place, take the most favorable view of the 
question, for slavery, and suppose that a steady demand continued 
for the products of slave labor. Still, it is capable of easy dem- 
onstration that slavery in the cotton states was doomed to an early 
extinction by the mere over-peopling of the soil. 

1st. Slavery doomed to Early Extinction by the Narrow Limits of the 
Territory adapted to Slave Labor. 

The first thing to be considered in this connection is, the rapid 
exhaustion of the soil by slave labor. Cotton is an exhausting crop, 
and with a large gang of negroes upon a limited quantity of land, 
the first consideration with the planter must be, not the improvement 
of the soil, but employment and subsistence for his slaves. The 
result would be the absolute exhaustion and abandonment of millions 
of acres of uplands, in a few years. The exhaustive system of cul- 
ture w r as, before the war, already awakening apprehensions for the 
future, in the minds of reflective Southern men. Tract after tract 
had been exhausted, and abandoned by emigration to a virgin soil. 

This exhaustion of land is an important feature in the estimate 
of the profit of negro labor. If, in thirty years, the net profits of 
the labor of a plantation of negroes is $40,000, there is a net loss 
of $10,000, if, meantime, they have worn out and compelled the 
owner to abandon lands whose value as a virgin soil would be $50,- 
000. With the immense influx of negroes to the cotton states, this 
item would swell into overshadowing dimensions. The increase of 
population would enhance the value of land, while it would neces- 
sitate its rapid exhaustion. 



474 the world's crisis. 

How long would it require for this increase of slave population to 
overstock all the good lands in the Cotton States, and necessitate 
emancipation through the exhaustion of the soil ? 

The following are the statistical facts necessary to make an es- 
timate : 

First: The negro population of this country has, since the begin- 
ing of the century advanced at a regular ratio of increase, — it has 
doubled once in thirty years. It doubled in the interval of thirty 
years from 1810 to 1840; again the negro population of 1820 had 
doubled in 1850; and the population of 1830 was doubled in 1860. 

Second: Upon an average, the effective force of a plantation of 
negroes was equal to two-thirds of their whole number, — one hun- 
dred and fifty negroes, men, women, and children, were estimated as 
equal in the cultivation of cotton to one hundred " hands." 

Third: Ten acres of cotton to the "hand" was the usual crop. 
To make our estimate as favorable to the existence of slavery as 
possible, let us suppose that only eight acres of cotton to the 
"hand" are grown. 

Fourth: For the support of the plantation it was necessary to 
raise, besides the crop of cotton, five acres of Indian corn to the 
hand; and upon a self-sustaining plantation, an equal quantity 
either of some other grain, or of peas, would be necessary. We 
will suppose, however, that eight acres of grain to the hand are suf- 
ficient for all plantation uses. 

Fifth: To prevent the exhaustion of the soil, and to supply neces- 
sary pasturage for stock, it would be necessary to have a quantity 
of fallow, or grass land, equal to one-third of the whole tillable land. 

Sixth: Hence a judicious system of tillage would allow to every 
hand eight acres of cotton, eight of grain and other supplies, and 
eight of fallow or grass. Consequently, apart from the land re- 
served for timber and fuel, every self-sustaining plantation would 
require twenty-four acres of land to each hand, or sixteen acres to 
every head of negro population. 

Now let us see how many negroes the cotton states would support 
in full employment, without exhausting the soil. Let us make the 
most favorable estimate. Suppose the entire non-slaveholding white 
population to be concentrated in cities and towns, or living on poor 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 475 

lands unsuited to slave plantations, leaving to slave plantations all 
the fertile lands in the cotton states. This certainly is a most favor- 
able estimate for slavery. It will not be counterbalanced if, to sim- 
plify our calculation, we suppose that the entire slave population is 
concentrated on plantations, leaving to whites the avocations of 
towns and cities, and every class of business except planting. 
Furthermore, as we take it for granted in this estimate, that there is 
an unlimited demand for cotton, it is not necessary to draw any 
distinction between the production of cotton and other Southern 
staples : for the purpose of our estimate we may suppose the entire 
slave population of the cotton States assembled on plantations 
engaged in the production of cotton. 

How much good land is there in the cotton States ? — Leaving out 
Texas and Florida, there are in round numbers in the cotton States, 
including Arkansas, one hundred and seventy-five million acres of 
land. From this, however, we must deduct the swamp lands of 
Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, and South Carolina, and 
the vast upland barrens in all the states, covered with pine and 
oak, and wholly unfit for the growth of cotton. Of the surface of 
Louisiana, it is estimated that over three-sevenths or nearly one- 
half is swamp. Every traveler in the cotton states remembers the 
immense extent of the pine and oak barrens which comprise the 
uplands. It is a liberal estimate, to suppose that one-third of the 
surface of those states, or 60,000,000 acres, is a fertile soil suited 
to the growth of cotton. — The greater part of Florida is either 
swamp, or pine barrens ; and of Texas, far the greater portion is 
composed of dry plains, only suited to pasturage. Of the 195,000,- 
000 acres of surface in those two states, less than one-fourth is 
adapted to cotton plantations. — It will be a most liberal estimate to 
suppose that, of the 370,000,000 acres of land in the cotton states, 
one-fourth, or 90,000,000 acres are* fertile soil adapted to cotton 
plantations. 

* A writer in the Southern Quarterly Review, — speaking of the extent of surface 
adapted to the cotton culture, says: " A very low latitude, even in the United 
States, is not favorable to a large yield of the upland cotton. Low down in Texas 
or Louisiana, the plant runs too much to weed, with long joints and few bolls. 
The truth is, the real cotton region is, comparatively speaking, a narrow belt in the 



476 

Now let us suppose every acre of this land to be devoted to slave 
plantations ; and let it all be devoted to tillage, not reserving an 
acre for timber or fuel. How many negroes could find profitable 
employment, without exhausting the soil ? As we have seen, twenty- 
four acres would be required for every hand, — being sixteen acres to 
every head of negro population. At this rate, 5,625,000 negroes 
would occupy all the good cotton lands in the Southern states. This 
number would be equal to 3,750,000 hands, and would cultivate, at 
eight acres to the hand, 30 million acres in cotton, 30 million acres 
in cereals, and 30 million acres in grass and fallow. 

In 1860, there were about 2,500,000 negroes in the cotton states. 
Suppose that, prior to emancipation in the border states, only one- 
third of the negro population were sent South. Then, at their 
regular rate of increase, doubling once in thirty years, the 2,500,000 
negroes in the cotton states in 1860, together with the subsequent 
immigration from the border states, would amount to 6,000,000, in 
1890. They would then have occupied every acre of cotton lands 
in the cotton states. 

Their subsequent increase would be a burden, either taxing the 
soil with excessive culture and rapidly exhausting it, or diminishing 
the cotton crop to give place to supplies. 

In 1900 A. D., the negroes of the cotton states would have in- 
creased to nearly 8,000,000, of whom two-thirds, or 5,333,000, would 
be hands. These must continue to grow eight acres, each, of grain 
for supplies. The planters would now be under the necessity of 
choosing whether they would exhaust their land with excessive cul- 
ture — abandon the growth of cotton — or emancipate their negroes as 

United States. Take the latitude of 33 degrees and run it west, and it will be 
found to be the center of the belt; Seventy-five miles north and south of that de- 
gree will comprise the cotton region of this country, and the plant will degenerate 
as fast going south of that line as it will north of it, as far as the quantity per acre is 
concerned. The weed will not degenerate, but the bolls will grow fewer, as you go 
south ; and as you go north of that latitude, they will not mature so fully. Even 
within that belt there is great inequality." The writer states that the climate of 
Texas " will forever prevent that region from being permanently a cotton country." 
He concludes : " We infer from all this, that the climate suited for cotton, even 
in the United States, is far more limited than was formerly supposed."— -From 
his remarks it appears that the estimate given in the text is much too large. 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 477 

expensive and unprofitable, and employ coolie labor, instead. If 
they gave up the necessary quantity of land to grass and fallow, 
there would not remain five million acres for cotton : if they con- 
tinued to cultivate the usual quantity of cotton, their lands would be 
so exhausted in a few years, as to be unable to support their negroes. 
In either case, ruin would confront them. 

The longer they deferred action, the worse their condition w r ould 
become. In 1910, there would be 10,000,000 negroes, requiring, at 
Qur estimate, 50,000,000 acres to be devoted to supplies; leaving 
only 40,000,000 acres for cotton, if the entire surface were devoted 
to ceaseless cultivation. In 1920, there would be 12,000,000 slaves, 
requiring 64,000,000 acres to be devoted to the production of sup- 
plies. The subsistence of the negroes alone, would then give full 
employment to the soil. 

This tendency would be readily perceived, and as soon as slavery 
became less profitable than coolie labor, a system of gradual emanci- 
pation and colonization would be adopted. This state of things would 
occur in 1900; when, as we have seen, slavery would be unprofitable 
unless with the exhaustion of the soil, while coolie labor would yield a 
large profit. Three and three-quarter millions of coolies would cul- 
tivate the 90 million acres of land, — 30 million acres in cotton, 30 
million in supplies, and 30 million in fallow. The land cultivated in 
cotton Avould yield, at the usual average, 15,000,000* bales, worth, at 
ten cents a pound, $600,000,000. Their wages, at $50 each a year, 
would amount to $187,000,000, leaving a profit of $413,000,000. 

Let us reduce this estimate to the scale of a single plantation. A 
planter with 1,200 acres of land would, in 1890, have on it, by our 
estimate, seventy-five negroes, equal to fifty hands. They would cul- 
tivate every acre of his land, — four hundred in cotton, four hun- 
dred in cereals, and four hundred in fallow. — In the year 1900, these 
negroes would have increased to one hundred, requiring the culture 
of 530 acres of cereals for the support of the- plantation, and dimin- 
ishing, proportionally, the amount of cotton produced. This tend- 
ency would go on until 1920, when the negroes would have increased 

* It will be recollected that this estimate is based upon the supposition that 
the cotton market is unlimited; so that, by hypothesis, the labor of the £outh 
is limited only by the quantity of land on which to employ it. 



478 

to one hundred and fifty, and the support of the plantation would 
require 800 acres to be cultivated in cereals, and tax the soil to its 
full capacity of production for the support of the plantation. The 
planter, in the year 1900, would already perceive the tendency. 
The negroes would at that time be a burden, while, by the employ- 
ment of coolie labor, the planter would realize a large annual profit. 
Fifty coolies would cultivate his land, at a cost for wages of $2,500, 
and produce a cotton crop worth $8,000, leaving a net profit of 
$5,500 annually. 

The result would be that, by the close of this century, the cotton 
states would be driven to the adoption of a system of gradual eman- 
cipation, in connection with African colonization. 

Southern statesmen foresaw this result. They perceived that the 
time was coming when the increase of the slave population in the 
cotton states would overstock the soil, and render the institution a 
burden. Hence their efforts to prevent this consummation, by ob- 
taining territory into which slavery might spread. — But this could 
not have averted the impending doom of the institution. Slavery 
could not exist on an extensive scale in the territory occupied by 
Mexico. The six months of dry season which there prevails, unfits 
the country for the growth of slave products, except where the land 
can be artificially irrigated; and the valleys susceptible of irrigation 
are small, and the supply of water is wholly inadequate to the irri- 
gation, even of these. Slavery could not be saved by expansion. 
Divine Providence had assigned its limits, and fixed the bounds of 
its duration, in the immutable laws of industry. 

It thus appears that, under the most favorable supposition, slavery 
could not have endured half a century. It may be objected that, 
in our estimate, too large a surface has been devoted to the produc- 
tion of cereals, inasmuch as the surface devoted to cereals would 
not increase in the ratio of the negro population. Admit this, and 
still our estimate is much too favorable to the institution. — We have 
supposed that the white population of the cotton states, who at the 
regular rate of increase would have numbered eight millions in 1890, 
would yield all the fertile lands to the occupancy of negro planta- 
tions; and, furthermore, that these lands would be equally distrib- 



TIIE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 479 

uted among slave owners in proportion to the number of their 
slaves. But practically, neither of these suppositions is correct. 
Many of the fertile lands would be held by non-slaveholding whites; 
many slaveholders would have engrossed lands much in excess of 
the number of their negroes ; — leaving many slave owners to settle 
on inferior lands, which slave culture would soon exhaust. Their 
clamors under the burden of slavery would lead the cry of emanci- 
pation, while yet extensive landowners in fertile districts found 
slavery profitable. These causes would materially shorten the du- 
ration of the institution. 

2nd. Slavery Boomed to Early Extinction by the Over-supply of the 

Cotton Market. 

In the preceding estimate, we have supposed that the cotton de- 
mand would be boundless, and that the institution would be exceed- 
ingly profitable until the increase of the negro population compelled 
the diminution of the cotton crop, to give place to cereals. In car- 
rying out the calculation based on this supposition, the cotton crop 
of 1790 was estimated at fifteen million bales. This supposition 
yields altogether too much to the duration of slavery. The limited 
demand for cotton would cut short the profits of the institution 
during the entire period. — Our cotton production began at zero, in 
the presence of a demand which the supply could not meet. Our 
production doubling about once in fifteen years, grew faster than 
the demand ; and at this ratio of increase, we, at length, in 1860, 
produced a quantity surpassing the demand. — It would be a libera] 
estimate to suppose that the demand for cotton would double once 
in thirty years. At this rate ten million bales would supply the 
cotton market in 1890. 

The glut of the cotton market would exert a most important influ- 
ence in shortening the duration of slavery. Even if we had an 
unlimited surface upon which slavery might spread, the want of 
demand for slave products suited to the soil, would soon render the 
institution a burden. 

In 1890, there would be in the cotton states six million slaves, of 
whom at least four millions and a half would be gathered upon cot- 
ton plantations. We should then have four million five hundred 



480 the world's crisis. 

thousand negroes engaged in raising supplies, and growing ten 
million bales of cotton as an extra crop. Two million laborers are 
sufficient to grow that amount of cotton ; so that the South would 
be sustaining two million and a half of negroes in practical idleness. 
By the year 1900, the negroes on cotton plantations would have 
increased to six millions, of whom three and one-third millions 
would be an useless burden. In 1910, the idlers on cotton planta- 
tions would number over four millions ; in 1920, five millions, out 
of a population of nine millions. 

The question would arise, Why keep millions of idle negroes 
occupying the best lands of the country, when less than half their 
number would suffice to do their work ? The non-slaveholding 
whites would see themselves excluded from millions of acres of the 
best lands by negroes, of whose labor there was no need, who were 
an incubus upon the country, and a burden to their owners. They 
would demand that a different system of labor should be introduced. 
The slave owners would see that the interest of the capital invested 
in lands and farming implements for the support of these idle 
negroes, together with the amounts expended in clothing them, etc., 
would pay for the labor necessary to supply the cotton market. If 
they were disposed to hold out, their obstinacy must give way when 
they saw these idle surplus negroes requiring so much land to be 
devoted to their subsistence as to trench upon the surface devoted 
to the production of cotton. As they saw their cotton crops, year 
by year, diminished, to give place to supplies necessary to maintain 
their negroes, they would be forced to recognize the necessity of 
ridding themselves of the incubus of slavery. 

Slavery in the cotton states was menaced by two horns of a 
dilemma, one, or both of which assured its destruction. The want 
of sufficient land to support the negroes would be fatal to it : the 
want of sufficient demand for cotton would be fatal to it. The com- 
bination of the two doomed it to early and inevitable extinction. — 
Indeed, slavery can only exist under peculiar circumstances. It 
requires two things to render it profitable, — an abundance of cheap 
and unoccupied lands where a wasteful system of culture is of little 
consequence, and an unbounded market for products on which slave 
labor may be profitably employed. It becomes unprofitable when 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 481 

the slave population increases beyond the ratio of the demand for 
slave grown products; or, when the country in which it exists be- 
comes populated to such an extent as to leave no room for the fur- 
ther spread of slave population. It can only exist in a new coun- 
try growing slave products, for which the markets of the world afford 
an unlimited demand. 

Slavery had been highly profitable once in the border states. In 
1860, it was no longer so, except in connection with the southern 
slave market. It was still highly profitable in the cotton states, and 
would continue to be so, for years to come. So long as the market 
for cotton and for agricultural produce afforded the negroes active 
employment, the profits of the institution would continue. But 
when the increase of the slave population exceeded the limits of the 
demand for their productions, and the capacity of the country for 
their support, the institution would become a burden, and would 
pass away with the circumstances which gave it vitality. 

Far better for our country had slavery been left to the operation 
of natural laws. By the close of the present century, the institu- 
tion would have been brought under the influence of emancipation 
legislation, which would have quietly freed the country from its 
presence. Our civil war came on at the very moment when indus- 
trial forces were being developed tending to emancipation. Had 
the crisis been deferred a few years longer, the evident wane of 
slavery in the border states would have quieted all excitement, and 
the institution would have been left by general accord to the opera- 
tion of industrial laws. 



Let us consider, 

Sect. 2. — The Effect of the Supply of the Cotton Market upon 
our Manufacturing Industry. 

The concentration of southern labor upon the cotton crop, caus- 
ing that section to rely largely upon the West for agricultural sup- 
plies, was one of the chief causes which turned the industry of the 
latter section away from manufacture, to the production and trans- 
portation of cereals. The supply of the cotton market would, as a 
first effect, divert a great part of the labor of the South to the 
• 31 



482 THE world's crisis. 

growth of supplies ; and this would continue until the entire wants 
of the section were met. The Southern market for Western produce 
would cease. The stagnation of Western industry would find no 
relief except in manufactures. — Cities have grown up on the south- 
ern borders of the West, engaged in the Southern supply trade. 
Both their population and their capital would now be idle. Their 
laboring population would be under the necessity of dispersing into 
the country to increase the already too great production of agricul- 
tural supplies. The capitalists and property holders of the cities, 
and the country farming population, would be equally interested in 
averting this depopulation, alike ruinous to them all. The only 
alternative would be, to employ this population in manufactures ; 
and the immense capital of the West would all be promptly invested 
in manufacturing industry. 

None can question the ability of Western manufacturers, at that 
period, to compete with British cotton and woolen fabrics, in our 
own markets, where the incidental protection of a revenue tariff was 
afforded them. — But it may be questioned whether they would have 
been able to compete with English manufactures in the markets of 
the world. A comparison of advantages will show that the West 
still possessed the superiority which, at an earlier day, should have 
secured to that section manufacturing supremacy. 

England, it is true, then possessed greater advantages than thirty 
years before. During that period, her manufacturing industry 
had attained extraordinary dimensions ; her industry had become 
thoroughly systematized ; and unexampled' prosperity had given her 
the power of an immense accumulated capital. But the West had 
also developed in an unexampled degree all the elements of indus- 
trial greatness. If it had not the accumulated capital of England, 
it had enough to establish manufactures to the full extent of the 
wants of industry. If it had not the organized operative industry, 
it had the population already assembled at desirable points, and 
ready to engage in manufactures at the first signal. Everything 
was ready but the manufactories, — raw material, operatives, ware- 
houses, steamboats, railways, and labor in abundance. No enter- 
prise is capable of such rapid development as manufactures. In a 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 483 

few years, the West might have had in operation as many looms and 
spindles as Great Britain. 

Once in operation, British manufactures would have been driven 
from competition. In every element of successful industry, the 
West had immeasurably the advantage. 

1. The English factories were supplied with American cotton, for- 
warded to Liverpool as the depot of supply for English mills. The 
cotton from the Mississippi valley could be forwarded to St. Louis, 
Louisville, and Cincinnati, about as cheaply as to New Orleans. 
The Western manufacturer, therefore, would save in the cost of raw 
material, the freight from New Orleans to New York — factorage 
there — freight from New York to Liverpool — brokerage there — and 
freight from Liverpool to Manchester. 

2. The English operative was fed on Western produce, at prices 
enhanced beyond the Western cost, by transportation to New T York 
— mercantile profits there — freight to Liverpool — mercantile profits 
there — and freight to Manchester. 

3. The price of imported commodities was not enhanced by Tariff 
duties with us so much as in England. Our Tariff was then reduced 
to the revenue standard, averaging only a duty of 19 per cent. ; and 
the cost of imported commodities and luxuries used by the laboring 
class was much cheaper, here, than there. 

4. The difference of taxation gave the Western manufacturer a 
great advantage over the English. 

We were free from debt; while England owed £894,644,060 
($4,473,220,300), entailing an annual burden of £30,110,000 ($150,- 
550,000), for interest. Besides this, Great Britain was under the 
necessity of maintaining a heavy military and naval armament, cost- 
ing annually £27,385,000 ($136,925,000). The whole expenses of 
the British government involved an annual taxation of $350,000,000. 

But moreover, the mode in which British taxation was adjusted, 
caused it to press upon industry with excessive severity. The Aris- 
tocracy would not suffer a tax to be laid upon their property, — the 
system that presses most lightly upon industry. The system of 
taxation was so adjusted as to press with undue weight upon the 
industrial, and especially upon the laboring class. 



484 the world's crisis. 

Compare the weight of taxation in the two countries : — 

The American paid no tax upon breadstuffs, and scarcely any 
upon tea, sugar, and coffee; the English people paid on these 
articles $47,000,000. 

The American paid no tax upon his distilled and malt liquors, of 
which great quantities are consumed by the laboring class of all 
countries ; — the English people paid upon these articles in Tariff 
duties, excises, and tavern licenses, $170,143,140. 

The American people paid no tax upon tobacco ; — the English 
people paid $32,779,720. 

The business men of America transacted their business without 
paying taxes on business transactions ; — the business transactions 
in England were charged with stamps to the amount of $47,500,000. 

The business men of America invested their profits without any 
deduction from taxation ; — the business of England paid an income 
tax of $40,000,000. 

The only point in which England had the advantage of us lay in 
the currency. Our currency was then much less inflated than it had 
been at any recent period. We had just emerged from the crash 
of the free banks in 1857, whose issues, like those of the National 
Banks, now, were based on public bonds, and the people were dis- 
gusted with expanded paper issues. There were, then, in the 
United States, 1,118 banks founded on a specie basis, having $83,- 
000,000 of specie in their vaults, and a circulation of $178,000,000 : 
besides these, there were 444 stock banks, based on state bonds, and 
having a circulation of $29,000,000 : it is estimated that our specie 
circulation, at that time, amounted to $10,000,000. The entire cir- 
culation of the country was $217,000,000, of which $188,000,000 
consisted of specie and the notes of banks on a specie basis. — The 
circulation of Great Britain at that time was $225,000,000, — fifty 
millions of coin, and one hundred and seventy-five millions of paper 
currency. Our circulation was much more inflated than that of 
Great Britain, when the commercial transactions of the two coun- 
tries are compared; and it was attended with its natural result, — 
an inflation of prices beyond the English standard. But this draw- 
back was not sufficient to counterbalance our advantages in every 
other particular. 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 485 

In view of the high prices of provisions imported from abroad, 
and the burden of taxation imposed upon the laboring classes in 
duties and excises upon the articles they consumed, the British 
manufacturer was compelled to pay his operatives high wages, to 
enable them to subsist. Wages in Lowell were lower than in Man- 
chester. The wages paid in New England were too little, in view 
of the high price of all articles of subsistence, enhanced by trans- 
portation from the West ; but in the midst of the Western agricul- 
tural region, those wages would have subsisted the operative in 
comfort. The establishment of manufactures in the West would 
lower the cost of our manufactured goods ; and, by breaking down 
the false industrial system that had sprung up, it would lower prices 
so far, that wages might be reduced fifty per cent below the English 
standard, and yet yield the operative a better subsistence than that 
class has ever hitherto realized, in any country. — But the American 
manufacturer could afford to pay the same wages as the English, 
and still manufacture at a cheaper cost : the greater cheapness in the 
cost of raw material would alone make a handsome profit ; and this 
with the cheaper cost of living, and the absence of government tax- 
ation, would enable him to sell his goods at a lower scale of profit, 
and still realize the same clear gains as his British competitor. 
These two facts would be decisive. The American could afford to 
sell his goods in the world's market thirty per* cent, cheaper than 
English fabrics, and still realize the same net profit as his competitor. 

It is needless to trace in detail the advantages flowing from the 
establishment of manufactures in the West, and our wresting from 
Great Britain the centralization of manufacturing industry. As the 
subject will be treated more in detailf hereafter, it will suffice 
merely to indicate results, leaving the mind of the reader to supply 
the chain of causation. 

1. It would have struck down at a blow all the evils under which 
our country has labored so long. 

(1.) All political evils would have soon disappeared. — Sectional 

* See a more detailed estimate of the relative expenses of the English and 
American manufacturer, on page 612. which fully bears out this declaration. 
f See page 616. 



486 the world's crisis. 

animosity would have ceased through identity of interest, — the West 
and South being copartners in the cotton supply, and the East their 
commercial agent. — The slavery agitation would have ceased, from 
the identity of Northern and Southern interests, and from the 
amelioration of the institution and its evident decadence. — New 
England, engaged in its legitimate business, the carrying trade of 
the country, would cease to clamor and conspire for the triumph of 
the protective policy. The country would have peace. 

(2.) Our industrial evils would soon have disappeared. — Industry 
would have flowed in its normal channels. — With our abnormal in- 
dustry, would have passed away the industrial evils, and the social 
excitement, to which it had given rise. 

2. The attainment of our proper industrial position would have 
quietly averted the dangers now so menacing to the world. 

(1.) The downfall of the British commercial centralization would 
carry with it the industrial oppression and the social excitement it 
has occasioned. 

(2.) The event would dispossess Britain of the colossal power 
which has always been used to strengthen Absolutism, and which is 
now strengthening Despotism for the overthrow of Progress. 

If the industrial reaction which had begun in 1860, had been 
suffered to work out its results unimpeded, the world would now be 
safe. Had slavery been left to the solution of natural causes, our 
career of prosperity would have been uninterrupted. The crisis 
that is now menacing the world so dangerously would have been 
averted without effort. But the War has wrenched us from our 
career of normal industry, and suffered events to drift on to a crisis, 
where only the most prompt, resolute, and well-directed efforts can 
save all from impending ruin. 

The Anti-slavery agitation has been, from the first, a positive evil. 
It precipitated a struggle, which checked, in its incipiency, the ten- 
dency to emancipation ; which has cost the lives of one-fourth of 
the negro population ; which has paralyzed our national industry, 
and burdened the country with debt ; — and all, to effect precipitately, 
and at the wrong time, the emancipation which would have been 
brought about, at the proper time, by the laws of industry. It may 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 487 

prove, in the future, the source of yet greater evil. The want of 
the organized systematic industry of the South may prove the cause 
of, wide-pervading industrial ruin, from which no quarter of the 
country will escape. If the influence of America is paralyzed in the 
hour of the World's crisis, and the hopes of mankind drift helplessly 
on to shipwreck, it will be because the American people committed 
the fatal error of precipitating a movement which should have been 
left to the guidance of Providence, and thus ruined their country at 
the very moment when its prosperity was greatest, and when it 
might and would have achieved every thing for itself, and for 
mankind. 



CHAPTER III. 

EVIL RESULTS OF THE WAR— Continued. POSITIVE EVILS. 

A great industrial contest with England is now our only hope. 
In this contest we should have nothing to fear, if our condition were 
the same as before the War. Our victory would be sure. If we 
had now the same monopoly of cotton production as then ; if En- 
gland were entirely dependent upon us, now, for her supplies of 
raw material ; if we were, now, in the same industrial condition, free 
from debt, with a revenue tariff, a specie basis, and an organized 
Southern industry, — we might easily wrest from England the cotton 
manufacture, and overthrow her commercial supremacy. But the 
War has not only made the contest necessary; it has rendered our 
position well nigh desperate. 

The War has afforded England the opportunity to strengthen her 
position. It has robbed us of the sinews of our strength. 

Sect. I. — The War has Enabled England to Fortify her Cen- 
tralization of Industry. 

Great Britain has always regarded with uneasiness her depend- 
ence upon us for raw material ; knowing that whenever we adopted 
a wise industrial policy, our competition would wrest from her the 



488 

most profitable and important branch of her manufactures. The 
far-sighted commercial statesmen of Britain have long anxiously 
desired to free their country from dependence upon us for the raw 
material of her cotton manufactures. 

For years, the energy, and capital, and finesse of that country, 
were directed to the furtherance of this object. British policy has 
had two aims, — to develop rival fields of cotton production ; and to 
diminish our efficiency as cotton growers. With one hand, British 
capitalists lavished money to develop the cotton culture in new 
fields ; with the other, they showered gold to foster the anti-slavery 
movement in the United States, having in view the subversion of the 
labor system of the South. 

The first aim of their policy proved fruitless. A supply of seed, 
machinery, and capital was offered to every country that would en- 
gage in the cotton culture. But while the Southern states were 
growing cotton with slave labor, no country could compete with us 
in the cotton market. Nowhere else was there a labor system so 
thoroughly reliable, and so cheap. The Southern planter could 
afford to grow cotton at a price which barely paid expenses, — the 
natural increase of his slaves affording sufficient profit. In the in- 
terval between 1825 and 1860, while the supply of American cotton 
had increased 976,000,000 pounds, the supply from Brazil had fallen 
off 16,000,000 pounds, that from the West Indies 9,000,000 pounds. 
Egypt and India only had increased their supply, — the former 
22,000,000 pounds, the latter 18,000,000 pounds. American slave 
labor distanced all competition, and bade defiance to every effort to 
foster rival fields of production. 

The effort to foster the anti-slavery excitement in this country 
was more successful. Philanthropy was the vail used to cover the 
deep interest manifested by British statesmen in the war waged in 
the North against slavery. But it seems suspicious that British 
capital should be lavished to strike down an institution which gave 
her only dangerous commercial rival a decided advantage. The 
historian may, perhaps, declare that the efforts both of British capi- 
talists, and of the leaders of British public sentiment, were influ- 
enced more by jealousy and commercial rivalry, than by philan- 
thropic hatred of slavery. 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 489 

Be this as it may, when the issue between the North and South, 
fomented as far as possible by British influence, approached a crisis, 
British capitalists promptly prepared to avail themselves of any op- 
portunity to foster their cherished object which the fermentation of 
American passions might offer. In 1857, when the "Kansas War" 
was embittering sectional passions and strengthening the Republican 
party, British capitalists organized " The Cotton Supply Asso- 
ciation," having for its aim the systematic development of the 
growth of cotton in new fields. Then, no sooner was war declared 
in 1861, than Britain seized the coveted opportunity to stimulate 
cotton production all over the world. British capital was poured out 
with a lavish hand upon every quarter of the globe. A supply of 
seed, of farming utensils, of necessary machinery, was offered 
wherever needed ; dams and sluices were constructed for irrigation ; 
and railroads were built, to open up cotton fields to market. Under 
the stimulus of high prices and specie payment, cotton was grown 
in large quantities wherever the soil and climate were adapted to its 
culture, and the necessary labor could be obtained. 

The result shows the grandest triumph of enterprise and capital 
ever witnessed. The growth of cotton has everywhere been largely 
increased ; and countries which never before produced cotton have 
engaged extensively in its culture. Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, and 
India now supply England with an amount of cotton almost equal 
to the supply received from the United States before the War. 

The following table exhibits the British importations of cotton 
since 1857 : 

1857 = 969,618,896 lbs. 

1858 a= 1,034,452,176 lbs. 

1859 an 1,225,989,072 lbs. 

1860 ±* 1,390,938,752 lbs. 

1861 = 1,256,684,735 lbs. 

1862 = 523,973,296 lbs. 

1863 == 669,583,264 lbs. 

1864 = 893,304,720 lbs. 

1865 = 977,968,288 lbs. 

1866 = 1,377,129,936 fibs. 



490 the world's crisis 

It appears from this table that England has so far succeeded in 
stimulating production in these new fields, that, notwithstanding the 
comparatively small amount received from the United States, her 
cotton supply is now as great as in 1860. British manufacturers 
now seem in a fair way to achieve their cherished object of becoming 
independent of our supply of cotton. If the present state of things 
continues a few years longer, they will dispense with our cotton as 
readily as they now dipense with our wool. 

This state of affairs is full of menace to our prosperity. Cotton 
has always been our chief article of export, upon which both the 
foreign commerce, and the internal traffic of the country is based. 
British enterprise threatens to exclude us from the cotton production, 
altogether. The "British Cotton Supply Association" will, of 
course, continue to cherish the culture of cotton in these new fields 
of production; and if there is any competition in the market, it 
will give their products the preference over ours. And it is un- 
questionable that, once fairly embarked in the cotton culture, with 
labor systematized, these new fields can grow the staple cheaper 
than we can, in the present industrial condition of the country. If 
our industry continues in its present abnormal condition, and we 
remain the satellite of British industry, growing raw material and 
provisions for her market, in a few years more we shall find ourselves 
driven from the cotton production, altogether. 

We now have to protect our home wool-growers from foreign com- 
petition by a tariff on foreign wool. If the present state of things 
continues, in a few years hence, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt, and India, 
after supplying England with cotton, will compete with our own 
cotton planters in our home market; and we shall be under the ne- 
cessity of protecting our home-grown cotton from their competition 
by high duties, as we now protect our wool. 

That this is not a meaningless jeer, will appear in a glance at 
the natural advantages of those fields for the production of cotton. 
We notice them as briefly as the importance of the subject will 
warrant. 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 491 

We will notice : 

1. Brazil as a Cotton-producing Country. 

Brazil has advantages which will render it, if once embarked in 
the culture of cotton, a formidable rival of the United States. 

It has a boundless extent of fertile soil, and a climate finely 
adapted to the growth of cotton. Indeed, cotton is an indigenous 
plant, growing without culture, and in its wild state continuing five 
or six years without decay. An American traveler who investi- 
gated the subject with care, states that two-thirds of the surface of 
the country is adapted to the production of cotton. 

Brazil has also an abundant supply of cheap and reliable labor, in 
four million African slaves. The emperor has recently expressed 
himself in favor of a system of gradual emancipation, to take effect 
at the expiration of twenty years. But the Congress has taken no 
action on the subject; and, in any event, this generation will not 
find any modification of the labor system now prevailing in that 
country. 

Besides the advantages of soil, climate, and labor, adapted to the 
culture of cotton, Brazil has every requisite to cheap production. 
Its vast extent of seaboard, and its numerous navigable streams in- 
tersecting the interior, give the best facilities for cheap transporta- 
tion ; its exuberant soil yields to agriculture ample returns, and 
countless herds of cattle roam its boundless plains ; facility of pro- 
duction, and the distance from market, will always render agricul- 
tural supplies cheaper than with us. In all the natural advantages for 
cheap and abundant production, Brazil surpasses our own country. 
Lack of enterprise, and ignorance of its vast resources, alone prevent 
it from taking the front rank among cotton producing countries. Had 
England lavished upon Brazil the enterprise and capital with which In- 
dia has been inundated, it would have rushed with a giant's step upon 
the career of industrial grandeur. As it is, — its slumbering energies 
not yet fully awakened to the fiery ardor of which the Portuguese 
character is capable, — the profitable nature of its other productions, 
and the modest recognition of our industrial supremacy, withheld 
it from attempting to rival our production while interrupted by the 
War. It was expected that, peace once restored, we would again 
monopolize the cotton market in defiance of competition. But let 



492 THE world's crisis. 

it be seen that the locks of our strength are shorn, and Brazil will 
enter the field of competition in earnest, and assist in driving us 
from the English market. 

2. The Countries around the Mediterranean. 

The soil and climate of these countries are well adapted to the 
growth of cotton. Under the stimulus of British enterprise, many 
of the Turkish dependencies have engaged extensively in the culture. 

Egypt has engaged in the culture with remarkable energy. The 
influence of the government has co-operated with British enterprise 
in stimulating production to the utmost. For years to come, Egypt 
may be expected to send an annually increasing crop to the British 
market. The country has the capacity for immense production. 
The delta of the Nile still retains the proverbial fertility which en- 
abled it, in the days of the Pharaohs, to sustain a population of 
fifteen million souls, besides exporting large quantities of bread- 
stuffs to the neighboring countries ; and which, under the Roman 
empire, gained it the title of "Granary of Italy." — And, to its 
full capacity for growing cotton, Egypt presents the conditions 
of cheap production. Its staple is finer, and commands a higher 
price than any sent to the English market, except our small product 
of the sea-island variety; the Fellah Arabs cultivate their own 
lands, avoiding expenditure for labor ; the productiveness of the 
soil, and the absence of market for breadstuffs, reduces life-sustain- 
ing products and the profits of labor to a much lower standard than 
with us. Egypt now exports a great quantity of cotton ; but the 
production has not yet nearly reached the limit of the capacity of 
the country. 

3. India. 

But India is the great cotton-field, whence England hoped — and 
hopes to draw its chief supplies of staple. 

Imagine a country larger than the entire territory of the United 
States east of the meridian line of the western border of Missouri, 
all lying within the cotton zone, and peopled by an industrious pop- 
ulation four times larger than that of the United States, — and we 
have some idea of the immense capacity of India as a cotton pro- 
ducing country. Cotton has always been grown in India, and the 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 493 

cotton manufacture has, from its earliest history, been one of the 
staple branches of industry. Its annual cotton crop was estimated 
in 1851 at 400,000,000 lbs, being half the amount of the cotton im- 
ports of England, at that period. But until recently, owing to the 
stereotyped habits of the people and the want of transportation to 
the coast, only a small portion of the product was exported. The 
greater part was used in household manufactures upon the primitive 
hand-loom. 

But its past production is no criterion of the capacity of this vast 
region as a cotton growing country. Its fertile uplands, and the 
inexhaustible deltas of its great rivers, are equally adapted to the 
growth of the staple. India has hitherto been depressed by the 
evils of misgovernment : many of the works constructed in former 
ages for irrigation were suffered to fall into ruin, and no new works 
were built : the rudest system of culture has prevailed : the want of 
roads has cut off the interior from market. Under such circum- 
stances, industry might be expected to languish. 

Still, under these accumulated disadvantages, the cotton exports 
of India have steadily advanced during the last forty years. About 
half the cotton exported was sent to England, the other half finding 
a market in China. In 1825, it exported to England 20 million 
pounds ; 41 million pounds in 1835 ; 77 million pounds in 1840 ; 
118 million pounds in 1850; 204 million pounds in 1860; and 370 
million pounds in 1861. 

Then, British enterprise began the lavish use of capital, to foster 
cotton production in the country. Millions were spent in the con- 
struction of railroads to open up the interior cotton-fields ; millions 
more were advanced for repairing old, and constructing new works 
of irrigation ; and other millions were expended in providing proper 
implements and machinery for cultivating and preparing cotton for 
market. — A few statistics will show how earnestly British enterprise 
is engaged in developing the vast resources of India. In 1864, 
there were completed 2,688 miles of railway; in 1865, there were 
completed 3,186 miles, and the completion of nearly 5,000 miles 
was guaranteed. Immense works for irrigation have been con- 
structed along the Ganges, and other streams. The main channel 
of the Ganges canal is 900 miles long, with over 1,800 miles of dis- 



494 the world's crisis. 

tributing channels, besides many hundred miles of minor channels. 
It irrigates a million and a half acres. Along other streams canals 
have been constructed varying from 100, to 500 miles, in length. 
In the presidency of Madras, nearly all the great rivers have been in- 
tersected by wiers, or dams, which prevent the water of summer rains 
from flowing to the sea, retaining them for irrigation. The govern- 
ment of India, withal, has been much ameliorated, and the country 
now enjoys a just and beneficent system of administration. Great 
Britain is neglecting no means of fostering the production of India. 

The fruits of the wise policy so recently adopted are manifest in 
an industrial development wholly without precedent. 

In 1862, the fostering care of England had not had time to pro- 
duce effect, and the cotton export was 388,000,000 pounds, only 
18,000,000 pounds more than in the preceding year. But in 1863, 
the export was increased to 430 million pounds, and in 1864, to 506 
million pounds, — a quantity greater than the United States exported 
in 1850. If we compare the development of cotton exportation in 
India since 1860, with the increase of production of our own country, 
we are deeply impressed with the vast resources of that region. Its 
export, in 1860, was about equal to ours in 1825. Four years later, 
its exportation was equal to ours in 1847. Indian exportation ad- 
vanced as rapidly in four years, as ours did in twenty. 

If we look at the industrial development of India in another 
point of view, we are equally impressed with its extraordinary prog- 
ress. In 1 833. the entire sea-borne commerce of India, includ- 
ing imports and exports, only amounted to $95,000,000. In 
1864, its sea-borne commerce amounted to $784,000,000, equal to 
one-third of that of Great Britain, and exceeding our own im- 
port and export trade for 1865, and our commerce in any for- 
mer year. 

India has suddenly become the commercial rival of the United 
States. 

The development of these new fields warns us that, if Great 
Britain is suffered to continue her policy of fostering their produc- 
tion, in a few years more, they will drive us from the cotton market. 

We are in the habit of soothing our apprehensions by various 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 495 

suggestions, all utterly futile. It is better to look the situation in 
the face, and adopt a decisive policy that will avert the dangers that 
threaten us. 

It was long urged that the India staple was of such inferior qual- 
ity that it could never come in competition with ours. But this in- 
feriority was chiefly owing to the indifference of the cultivators to 
the improvement of its quality. The same inferiority was once 
characteristic of India indigo, which was so worthless as to be unfit 
for the European market. The attention of English superintendents, 
however, so far improved its quality as to make it one of the staple 
exports. The same system of careless, slovenly management, with- 
out proper machinery for ginning and packing, allowed the India 
cotton to remain an inferior staple, hardly fit for the English market, 
and only suited to coarser fabrics when mixed with the American 
staple. While it was used in this manner, merely as an auxiliary to 
American cotton, to eke out the inadequate supply, its improvement 
was not very essential. The producers, finding a ready demand for 
their staple as it was, gave no care to the production of a better 
article. But when the American supply fell off, and the stock from 
these new fields became the prime staple of manufactures, the im- 
provement of the quality became a matter of the first necessity. 
The "British Cotton Supply Association" forwarded to India large 
quantities of the seed of the fine Egyptian cotton, and furnished the 
Hindoo cultivators with the most improved machinery for ginning 
and packing. The result has been a remarkable improvement in the 
quality of the India staple. The Egyptian seed produces, on India 
soil, a cotton of larger and stronger fiber than the American, which 
answers w T ell in manufactures for those purposes to which the latter 
has hitherto been applied. 

It is again urged that these new fields cannot become formidable 
competitors, from the fact that their inhabitants are not sufficiently 
advanced in civilization to require manufactures in exchange ; and 
that, consequently, a traffic which requires from Christendom an 
annual exportation of specie to pay for cotton must soon cease. 
This objection has some weight. England is draining Christendom 
of specie to pay for her cotton supply. But the process has gone 



496 the world's crisis. 

on for five years without producing any financial crisis. The re- 
mittance is systematized, and England is careful not to increase the 
remittances of specie beyond the amount of the annual product of 
the American and Australian mines. The traffic, therefore, merely 
serves as a conductor to prevent the accumulation of specie in 
Christendom. Moreover, time only is wanting to restore the balance 
of trade. Nothing introduces the wants of civilization so rapidly 
as commerce. The introduction of new and cheap articles of man- 
ufacture into a country, soon creates an extensive demand for them, — 
a demand which experience proves is only limited by the ability to 
purchase. England is exporting to Egypt, South America, and 
India, an annually increasing quantity of manufactured articles. 
In a few years, she may succeed in stimulating those countries into 
consuming manufactures in sufficient quantities to pay for their ex- 
ports, and thus establish the balance of trade. 

Again it is urged, that the system of culture is so rude in those 
new fields that high prices are necessary to remunerate the culti- 
vator of cotton ; and that systematic industry is so little developed, 
that nothing but high prices will stimulate production. 

This objection seems plausible, but experience has furnished an 
answer. We know that those fields did furnish cotton in considerable 
quantities, at the old prices prevailing before the War. And ex- 
perience has taught us what prices were sufficient to stimulate pro- 
duction. India cotton was always two cents per pound lower in the 
English market than the American. It was found that, whenever 
American cotton was worth fourteen cents a pound in Liverpool, or 
eleven cents in our own ports, production was stimulated in every 
foreign field. Sixpence a pound in the English market always pro- 
duced a large export of cotton from India. It is a mistake to sup- 
pose that their rude culture enhances the cost of cotton to any great 
extent. The chief expense in cotton culture is, not the cultivation 
of the plant, but picking the cotton. In this operation, the cheap 
labor and the manual dexterity of the Hindoos give them a great 
advantage. Experience proves that these fields, even in their old 
rude system of culture, were able to produce cotton as cheaply as we. 

The facts in the case, so far from soothing our apprehensions of 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 497 

rivalry, give us grave cause of uneasiness. Under favorable cir- 
cumstances, nothing improves so rapidly as husbandry — nothing 
develops so rapidly as industry. Forty years ago, our own system 
of husbandry was rude. Our agricultural implements were of the 
most primitive model, and our system of culture was little in ad- 
vance of that which now prevails in India and South America. Nor 
was systematic industry much further advanced. Their system of 
culture has already been much improved. The lavish use of British 
capital, and four years of extraordinary prosperity, have enabled 
them to adopt improved processes in every part of the cotton cul- 
ture. If, under the old system, — with imperfect implements for 
culture, primitive machinery for ginning and packing, no roads, and 
a bad government, — India was able to sell cotton for twelve cents a 
pound in the Liverpool market, that price will certainly suffice, now, 
when such improvements have been made. 

The question with us is, not whether those fields will maintain 
their standard of production when cotton falls to the price of 
1860 ; — the past proves that ! — but, whether they will not, as their 
system of husbandry continues to improve under the fostering care 
of England, be able to export cotton at a price cheaper than we 
can afford. If their industry continues to develop, we may expect 
them to compete with us in the Liverpool market, with cotton worth 
only twelve cents a pound, and perhaps even lower than that. 

But it is urged as a last resort, that the cotton market is un- 
limited, and that the industry of all is not more than sufficient to 
supply it. This is a grave mistake. That the demand for cotton is 
advancing, and will continue to advance, is unquestionable. But 
the increase of the crop in our own country more than kept pace 
with it. In 1860, we had glutted the market. If our production, 
alone, sufficed to glut the market, how will it be when the United 
States, South America, Egypt, Turkey, India, and China, are all 
competitors in the market, and all annually increasing their crops ? 
The market will be glutted to the gorge, and the fields which can 
produce cheapest will drive others from competition. 

It will then come to the test of cheap production. And when 
those fields shall have improved their system of agriculture, what 
32 



498 the world's crisis. 

advantage shall we have over them ? They have the conditions of 
cheap production in a more eminent degree than we. They have 
the low scale of prices based upon a specie currency. Their luxu- 
riant soil and tropical climate enables them to grow life-sustaining 
products in the greatest abundance ; and the distance of a foreign 
market keeps prices at a standard far lower than with us. In Bra- 
zil, beef is worth only a cent a pound ; the distance of a market 
renders Egyptian produce extremely low ; in India, the ordinary 
price of rice and wheat, the principal food of the population, is only 
forty cents a bushel. Moreover, the tropical climate of those coun- 
tries produces cheaply products of luxurious consumption, which 
we must purchase at greatly enhanced prices. Furthermore, the 
clothing of the cultivators of Hindostan, Egypt, and Brazil, is much 
less expensive than with us. And finally, they have fewer of the 
expensive habits of civilization. — If it comes to the test of cheap 
production, they will, in the end, drive us from the English market. 

Such are the elements of the industrial situation we have to face. 
England has fortified her position, and become independent of our 
supply of cotton, and even threatens to supersede it, altogether, 
with the production of foreign fields. The War has given her an 
immense advantage over her position six years ago. Then, we 
might, by a resolute, well-directed effort, have easily deprived her 
of her cotton manufacture. Now, with her factories supplied with 
staple from those new fields, Britain is a formidable competitor. 

Sect. 2. — The War has Weakened Us. 
The War has not only enabled Great Britain to strengthen her 
position, and fortify her centralization of industry ; — it has dimin- 
ished our resources for competition, in even a greater degree. 

I. The War has Weakened us, by the Devastation of the South, and the 
Prostration of Southern Industry. 

Who can estimate the losses it has entailed ! In the usual ratio 
of progress, the Southern States ought, now, to be advanced far 
beyond the status of 1860. In the ten years preceding the war, 
millions of acres were added to farms. The value of the farming 
lands more than doubled. Instead of the usual rate of increase, the 



POSITIVE EVILS OF THE WAR. 499 

present condition of the Southern States presents a most deplorable 
contrast -with their prosperous state, in 1860. The track of armies 
is marked with desolation ; the condition of the country is one of 
general poverty, — resources wasted, property ruined, labor demor- 
alized. Of the negroes who cultivated our great staple, vast numbers 
have perished, and a great part of the survivors are subsisting in 
comparative idleness, a burden, rather than a benefit to the commu- 
nity. The supply of cotton has greatly fallen off, with no prospect, 
from present indications, of a change for the better. Large districts 
in Georgia and South Carolina are being forsaken by the negro pop- 
ulation; in the Mississippi delta, the country is threatened with 
desolation by the destruction of levys, and the bankrupt landowners, 
disheartened by the unpromising circumstances of their condition, 
are almost ready to abandon their lands to the river. 

Six thousand million dollars will not cover the losses of the South 
from the War. The loss of property, — representing accumulated 
capital, — will amount to nearly or quite five thousand millions ; and 
one thousand million dollars will not cover the losses from the stag- 
nation of industry during the war. 

The devastation of war, the dismantling of plantations, the de- 
struction of property and stock, the demoralization of labor, — have 
reduced the Southern states to a condition the most unfavorable for 
competing with the new cotton fields developing under the intelli- 
gent patronage of Britain. 

II. The War has Weakened us by the National Debt it has Accumulated. 

The war has imposed on us a national debt of almost unexampled 
magnitude. The recognized debt of the country amounts to $2,500,- 
000,000. Bounty grants, and the assumption of state war debts, 
increase it by several hundred millions. Besides this, there are said 
to be outstanding claims to the amount of $3,000,000,000 more. 
Leaving this aside, the recognized debt will, involve an annual tax- 
ation of $150,000,000 for the payment of interest. 

This debt entails upon us another serious disadvantage, pregnant 
with danger to our prosperity. While the British debt is owned by 
capitalists at home, a considerable portion of ours is in the hands 
of foreign capitalists. It has been estimated that the payment of 



500 

interest on American securities abroad requires the annual exporta- 
tion of $100,000,000 of gold, or its equivalent. This is hardly an 
exaggerated estimate. The foreign debt is sufficient to keep ua 
drained of the precious metals. The produce of our mines is insuf- 
ficient to meet the draft. In default of a large cotton production, 
the balance of trade has, for years, been heavily against us ; and 
this, with the payment of interest, necessitates a large annual ex- 
portation of our bonds, with increasing drafts upon the resources 
of the country for the payment of interest. The existing tendency, 
unless soon arrested, will have caused, at no distant day, the ex- 
portation of the entire debt, mortgaging us to a ruinous extent to 
foreign capitalists. 

The effect of this state of things upon our competition with Great 
Britain is apparent. It places our credit at the mercy of English 
capitalists ; and London bankers, acting in the interest of British 
manufacturers, may, upon occasion, by a turn of the screw, prostrate 
the national credit, and bring upon the country a ruinous financial 
revulsion. 

But these evils, however great, would not prevent us from engag- 
ing in successful competition with Great Britain. Under a wise and 
conservative administration of the government, the Southern states 
would soon repair the ravages of war, and regain their former pros- 
perity. Nor would the debt, under a prudent financial system, 
endanger the prosperity of the country. 

III. But the War has inflicted upon the country an evil worse 
than military ravage, or the burden of debt. It has seated the 
Latitudinarian Constructionists, — the party whose ascendancy 
in former periods produced such great industrial, and political 
evils, — firmly in power ; and they are carrying out to the uttermost 
their crude and ruinous theories of government. 

But the extent of this subject demands a separate chapter. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 5Q1 



CHAPTER IV. 

POSITIVE EVILS— CONTINUED. KUINOUS POLICY OF THE RAD- 
ICALS. 

The worst infliction of the War is its having given the country 
over to the domination of a radical, revolutionary party. They 
are no longer merely Latitudinarian Constructionists of the Consti- 
tution; — they have boldly adopted the policy of disregarding the 
Constitution, trampling its restraints under foot, and forcing, by 
violence, the adoption of such changes in the instrument as they see 
fit to dictate. 

The policy of the Radical party is both subversive of our repub- 
lican system of government, and ruinous to our industrial interests. 

Sect. I. — The Policy of the Radicals Subversive of Repub- 
licanism. 

I. They are Establishing a Centralization. 

The Radical party has at length thrown aside the flimsy vail which 
masked its principles and its purposes, and has boldly inaugurated 
the policy of Revolution. 

Having obtained uncontrolled possession of Congress, by the ex- 
clusion of representatives elected from Southern states, they are 
using their congressional majority, thus obtained, to pass unconsti- 
tutional and revolutionary laws, having for their sole object the per- 
petuation of their power. — The vote in the Northern states at the 
last Congressional election* filled them with uneasiness. In seven 
of the great states of the North, their majorities were so small, that 
a change of twenty-five thousand votes would have given all the states 
in a presidential election to Conservatism. It was apparent that a 
very slight change in public sentiment in the North would enable 
the Northern Conservatives, with the vote of the Southern states, to 

* It may be necessary to remind the reader that this part of the work was 
written in the Spring of 1867, and is published without alteration. 



502 the world's crisis. 

elect the next President. The Radicals were resolved to prevent 
this consummation at every hazard. To this end, they determined 
to adopt measures the most revolutionary, in order to revolutionize 
the Southern state governments, and bring them to the support of 
the Radical party. 

Many obstacles were in the way. 

The citizens of the Southern states were almost unanimously op- 
posed to the Radicals, and regarded their measures with the utmost 
abhorrence. The negroes of the South might be relied on ; but they 
were not invested with the right of suffrage ; and the people of the 
states, who alone had jurisdiction of the matter, were most resolutely 
opposed to investing them with the franchise. Moreover, the 
negroes, even if enfranchised, were, in most of the states, a minor* 
ity of the population, and could not control elections. 

The Radical leaders grappled resolutely with all these difficulties. 
They devised a scheme of policy that would overcome all obstacles. 

As the state governments would not invest the negroes with the 
franchise, they resolved to reduce the states to a territorial form of 
government; to invest the negroes in these inchoate governments 
with the right of suffrage ; and to place the states under military 
domination, until the population should establish state constitutions 
investing the negro with the franchise, ratify certain amendments of 
the Federal Constitution, and send such representatives to Congress 
as the Radicals should approve. 

But the white population of those states would prefer to remain 
under military domination forever, rather than adopt these measures; 
and the white vote in most of the states would overbalance the negro 
vote, and defeat the programme. They resolved to overcome this 
obstacle by ordering an election, in which none should vote but those 
whose names were registered by officials appointed in the interest of 
the Radical party ; — these registration officers to have the power of 
rejecting whom they would, with no appeal from their decision. By 
this means, a majority of negro and submissionist votes might be 
secured, without difficulty. 

Having devised these measures for revolutionizing the govern- 
ments of the Southern states, the leaders of the Radical party found 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 503 

several obstacles in the way of carrying them into execution. The 
first was the repugnance of the more scrupulous Radicals in Con- 
gress, to vote for measures so plainly unconstitutional, so pal- 
pably revolutionary. The next obstacle was found in the foreseen 
opposition of the Executive, and the adverse decision of the Judici- 
ary. The framers of the Constitution provided safeguards against 
unconstitutional and revolutionary measures, by requiring the co- 
operation of all three departments of the government for their ex- 
ecution. It was known that.the President disapproved of the rev- 
olutionary policy they contemplated, and though, by their exclusion 
of the Southern representatives, their Congressional majority was 
so great as to render his veto a nullity, yet he might refuse to carry 
out their acts, until the Supreme Court should pronounce upon their 
constitutionality. And it was known that, if the question were ever 
brought before the Supreme Court, that respectable bench of judges 
could not do otherwise than pronounce the measures unconstitutional 
and revolutionary. 

The Radical leaders resolved to overcome these obstacles. They 
began their programme by subjecting all the congressmen of their 
party to a thorough party drill, whipping in the reluctant and the 
conscientious, and forcing them to go with the majority. Having 
thus secured the requisite majority, they resolved to override the 
opposition of the executive and judicial departments of the govern- 
ment, if possible, by intimidation, if necessary, by the impeachment and 
removal of the President, and the reconstruction of the Supreme Court. 

Having taken these preliminary measures, the Radical leaders 
pressed through Congress the Military Reconstruction Bill, followed 
by a supplementary act ; both embodying the details of their plan 
for revolutionizing the governments and the politics of ten States of 
the Union. 

The policy of the Radicals is revolutionary, throughout. The 
Reconstruction act is revolutionary, in reducing the states to terri- 
tories — in subjecting them to military domination — in enfranchising 
the negro population in opposition to the will of the people of the 
states — in forcing the states to ratify constitutional amendments 
against their will, thus changing the Constitution by revolutionary 
violence. Not only is the law revolutionary, but it was carried by 



504 

revolutionary violence. The requisite majority to pass it was ob- 
tained by the revolutionary exclusion of Southern representatives. 
Its execution was enforced by the revolutionary intimidation of the 
co-ordinate branches of the government. 

But the policy will succeed. The President, overawed by the fear 
of removal, is executing the Reconstruction law ; the Supreme Court, 
with the fear of reconstruction before its eyes, has declined to con- 
sider the merits of the law, when brought before it for adjudication. 
The Southern people are preparing to submit to the inevitable. The 
train is laid which must inevitably force the reconstruction of those 
states under the Radical programme, in defiance of the opposition 
of the citizens. The negroes who have a voice in the election of 
members of the conventions to form state constitutions are of course 
eager to vote themselves the franchise ! The great mass of the 
population, overawed by the presence of soldiers, discouraged by 
the helplessness of their condition, and apprehensive of further 
Congressional oppression, cannot venture to offer any opposition. 
The Southern states will be reconstructed upon the negro and Rad- 
ical programme. 

The Southerners are indulging the delusive hope that they may 
control the negro vote, and thus prevent the States from being rev- 
olutionized into Radicalism. In that hope they are endeavoring to 
fraternize with the negro. If the negroes were left to their own 
impulses, the impressible nature of the race would probably induce 
them to vote in the interests of conservatism. But it is a part of 
the astute Radical programme to prevent the black race in the South 
from harmonizing with the white. 

The party leaders have already taken their measures with pro- 
found sagacity and foresight, to secure to their own party the solid 
negro vote. They began their propitiation of negro favor by the 
constitutional amendment declaring them citizens of the United 
States, — one of the amendments they are now embodying by vio- 
lence in the Constitution, through the coerced ratification of the 
Southern states. They have taken other measures to propitiate the 
negro vote. To this end, Stephens introduced his bill into Congress, 
providing for the wholesale confiscation of Southern property for 



RUINOUS POLICY OP THE RADICALS. 505 

their benefit. Sumner's bill enfranchising them by law of Congress 
in all the states, had the same object in view. Those measures 
could not be passed in the present constitution of Congress. They 
were therefore merely offered, as indicative of the purposes of the 
Radical leaders, to propitiate the Southern negro vote, and secure 
their allegiance to the party. Those bills summon the negroes of 
the South to the aid of Radicalism, and urge them to send repre- 
sentatives to Congress who will strengthen the ultra Radical party, 
and enable it to pass those measures over the veto of the President 
and the opposition of Conservatism. 

The appeal will not be in vain. The negro population of the 
South will give* a solid vote for the Radical party. The trickery 
of the irresponsible Radical registration officers, and the presence 
of soldiers at the polls, will give the states to the domination of 
negro and Radical voters. They will follow the lead of Tennessee 
and Missouri in passing disfranchisement laws that will give them 
undisputed control of the states. They will send such represent- 
atives to Congress as will urge on Stephens' confiscation bill, and 
the bill of Sumner giving suffrage to the negroes in every state in 
the Union. 

When the Southern states shall have been revolutionized, and 
brought to the support of the Radical party, the first act in the 
drama of Centralization will be over. What next? Will Radicalism 
pause in its career ? Will it retrace its steps ? — A fate attends 
crime which always prevents the criminal from returning to the path 
of virtue. New forces are forever arising, which urge him onward 
to the consummation of his career. In summoning the Southern 
negroes to their assistance, the Radicals have invoked a spirit that 
will not down at their bidding. The Southern negroes have had 
Confiscation, and negro suffrage in all the states, held out to them ; 



* John Sherman, of Ohio, in a recent speech expressed the views and expec- 
tations of his party. He said : "Within a few years from this time the Southern 
states will be, I believe, the most Radical states in the Union. We have some 
illustration of this in the history of Missouri and Tennessee." And they evi- 
dently expect the same means to be employed in the Southern states, as have 
delivered those two bound into the loathed embrace of Radicalism. 



506 the world's crisis. 

and when they are represented in Congress, they will demand the 
fulfillment of the bond. A refusal to comply with their wishes 
would leave the negroes to go eventually with the Southern Con- 
servatives. The Radicals have not taken so many unconstitutional 
and revolutionary measures, already, in order to secure the negro 
vote in the South, to flinch from the final acts necessary to the 
a< hievement of their object. 

The confiscation and distribution of Southern lands is a necessary 
part of the Radical programme. The enfranchisement of the 
negroes in all the states is equally essential to their scheme of 
power. 

But it will be urged that the Congress has no constitutional power 
to enfranchise the negroes of the Northern states. How many 
other things has Congress done it had no constitutional power to 
do ! The power can easily be manufactured out of the new con- 
stitutional amendment that is being carried by the bayonet in the 
Southern states, — an amendment which invests the negro with 
citizenship. No government is Republican, is the dogma, which 
deprives citizens of the right of voting; the Federal government 
is bound to secure to the states a republican form of government ; 
ergo, the Federal government has the right to force the states to 
admit negroes to the suffrage. Congress will not blink at the 
question of constitutional power. It will only ask the question, Is 
it expedient for the achievement of party power ? — In Maryland, 
Kentucky, and Missouri, the negro vote holds the balance of power; 
and, in a closely contested election, the 56000* negroes in Penn- 
sylvania, the 50,000 in New York, the 36,000 in Ohio, the 24,000 
in New Jersey, the 10,000 in Indiana, the 7000 in Illinois,.the 6000 
in Michigan, would carry those states for the Radicals. Mr. Sum- 
ner is pressing the question through the press, seeking to leaven 
the public mind. The New York Tribune, in many respects more 
moderate in its tone than the Massachusetts Radical, yet agrees with 

* These numbers are taken from the census of 1860. The number of negroes 
in the Northern states has considerably increased by emigration from the South 
since that time, so that the influence of the negro vote in those states is really 
more important than is here represented. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 507 

him in the advocacy of this* measure. It only remains to educate 
the Radical party up to the issue, — a less difficult thing than many 
already achieved, — and Congress will pass the law. It will be easy 
to carry the measure, when Northern Radicalism is infused with 
fresh ardor by the Radical representatives from the South, who, 
themselves elected by negro votes, will aim to carry out the wishes 
.of their constituents, by placing Northern representatives upon the 
same basis as themselves. 

The party in power have established what the old Federalists 
aimed at, — a Centralization ruling the states with autocratic power, 
and dominating the country by the armed rule of force. They have 
carried out the dogma of Hamilton, "The Constitution is a thing 
of nought which must be changed." It is now boldly avowed that 
the Constitution must give way to the wants and ideas of the age, 
and its restrictions are haughtily put aside whenever they impose a 
bar against the will of a dominant majority. The Federalists were 
insidious in their usurpations of power by means of construction ; 
but, now, the mask is cast aside, and the Radicals trample the Con- 
stitution, trample the Executive, trample the Judiciary, trample the 
States ; and they boldly bring bayonets to bear to force the states to 
adopt such changes in the Constitution as they choose to suggest, 
and to submit to usurpations in opposition to law, to justice, and to 
right. Hitherto the Southern states have been the chief objects of 
this coercive rule. But already the principle is avowed that in the 
Northern states, also, the Federal government will pronounce upon 
the qualification of voters, and overrule the states at will. 

The trampling of the Southern states is the inauguration of the 
sway of a Centralization resting its power upon force. The force 
is now applied to the Southern states, to compel them to revolution- 
ize their governments, so as to give the Radicals control of their 
elections. This is the initial step in the programme, by which the 
Radicals are determined to rule the country by violence, in opposi- 

*laa recent issue the Tribune says: "Men who hold that none but whites 
should vote may be very well in their place; but there is no room for them in 
the Republican party. Every one who stays in it keeps at least ten votes out 
of it." 



508 



THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 



tion to the will of a majority of the American people. They use a 
temporary victory in the Northern states, to revolutionize the South- 
ern states by force, and bring them to the support of their tottering 
party ; then, when reaction comes in the North and West, the people 
of those sections will find themselves controlled by the votes of 
Southern negroes, and New England fanatics and manufacturers. 

Their scheme for maintaining their power is a bold one ; and it is 
so well devised, that, once on foot, it can hardly fail of success. In 
all the states in which slavery recently existed, the negro holds the 
balance of power. In a presidential election, New England and the 
Southern states including Kentucky and Missouri, will cast one hun- 
dred and sixty nine* electoral votes; while the Middle, North- 



* The following is the electoral vote of the several states for 1868. The vote 
of the Northern states is taken from the election returns of 1864; the vote of 
the Southern states is calculated upon the census of 1860, counting the negro 
population as voters and, consequently, entitled to full representation, instead of 
three-fifths as formerlv. 



Maine 

New Hampshire ■ 

Massachusetts - 

Ehode Island 

Connecticut 

Vermont 

Maryland - 

Virginia 

North Carolina 

South Carolina - 

Georgia - 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi - 

Tennessee 

West Virginia 

Kentucky 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Louisiana - 

Texas - 



5 
12 

4 

6 

5 

8 

10 
10 

8 
11 

3 
10 

9 
11 

5 

12 
12 

6 



New York .... 33 

New Jersey 7 

Pennsylvania 26 

Delaware 3 

Ohio 21 

Indiana - - - - - 13 

Illinois 16 

Michigan 8 

Wisconsin - 8 

Iowa ------ 8 

Minnesota - 4 

Kansas 3 

Nevada ----- 2 

California ----- 5 

Oregon 3 



Total 



160 



Total 



169 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 509 

western, and Pacific states, all combined, only cast one hundred and 
sixty votes. New England manufacturers and Southern negroes will 
maintain the Radicals in power, against the votes of all the rest of 
the country, combined. 

Radical domination would thus be very much simplified. As the 
party stands at present, its sway is continually threatened by the 
just dissatisfaction of the West with the protective policy dictated 
by New England. But, then, the votes of Southern negroes would 
be secured by the confiscation and distribution of Southern lands ; 
while they lived in lazy indolence upon homesteads received from 
Radical beneficence, the negroes would vote with the party to which 
they owed their lands, without perplexing themselves with regard to 
the policy of the government : the manufacturers of New England, 
by coercing the suffrage of their employes, can easily control the 
vote of that section. — And it will be the constant policy of the Ra- 
dicals to propitiate those two sections. The cunning which looks 
no higher than party aims will always enable them to present issues 
that will secure them the support of New England and the Southern 
negro population; and, assured of this, the party can rest its gov- 
ernment upon the bayonet, and bid defiance to the rest of the coun- 
try. Let them once firmly establish their power, and the Middle 
and Northwestern states will be the objects of their oppression, as 
the South is, now. Let the West remonstrate against negro suf- 
frage, and the oppressive system of legislation that will end in the 
prostration of its prosperity — the only answer will be the bayonet. 

A measure has already been proposed in Congress* which pro- 
vides for the organization of a standing army of half a million men 
completely devoted to the interests of the party controlling the 
centralized government, — a force that will enable it to crush out all 
opposition to its power, by force of arms. The measure was laid 
aside for the moment, having met with bold exposure of its danger- 
ous tendencies. But its suggestion shows that the Radical leaders 
contemplate a government resting upon military power. It was no 

* The bill organizing a national guard of half a million men is referred to. 
It has been boldly exposed by Doolittle and others, as an attempt to form an 
immense military force, devoted to Radicalism, and fit to maintain its domina- 
tion over all the states by the bayonet. 



510 the world's crisis. 

doubt offered in accordance with their usual subtle policy of prepar- 
ing public sentiment gradually for the adoption of startling innova- 
tions. The measure is the natural and necessary sequence of the 
policy of violence inaugurated by the party. — Military force is the 
essential support of all centralizations. Let the Radical scheme of 
power* once be fairly established, and the country will be placed 
under the rule of the sword. The Middle and Western states, hav- 
ing assisted in placing the yoke upon the neck of the South, will 
find, in turn, the subjugated South become the instrument of tyranny, 
to fix the yoke upon their own necks. The retribution denounced 
against Ahab will be theirs: "In the place where dogs licked the 
blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.'* 

II. Radical Centralization Policy Ruinous and Oppressive. 

Radicalism — like all Centralizations — administers the govern- 
ment in the interest of its two constituencies, the Southern Negro, 
and the Northern Capitalist ; to the ruin of the national industry, 
and the oppression of the Northern industrial class. 

The Radical party is devoted to the principles of centralization. 
They have conformed the public administration to their model. 
Centralization is already inaugurated under their rule. The party 
is resolved to maintain their possession of the government at all 
hazards, — if necessary, by the exhibition of force. They remove 
with inflexible resolution every obstacle from their path. They have 
overawed the executive by the threat of impeachment ; the Supreme 

* The result of the recent Northern elections has given the Radicals pause. 
They dare not, on the eve of the Presidential election, continue their high- 
handed course in the face of this expression of public opinion, so far as to carry 
out the policy of impeachment, of confiscation, and of negro enfranchisement 
in all the states by Congressional law. They now wait the result of their past 
revolutionary policy toward the South. Let the Radicalized Southern states 
come in, and let the next Presidential election go in their favor, and the Radi- 
cals will then carry out their entire plan of revolution and Centralization. They 
now pause in view of the expression of sentiment in the Middle and Western 
states; but, then, power will have passed from those sections, and they must 
submit to the will of New England manufacturers and Southern negroes. The 
coming Presidential election is the "crisis" in the political destiny of those 
sections. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 511 

Court, by menace of reconstruction ; the Southern states, by despotic 
military sway. They propose soon to place the whole country be- 
neath the domination of a national guard. Like all preceding Cen- 
tralizations, the sway of the Federal government under the Radical 
programme must be based upon an army. 

But an army, alone, will not suffice to maintain a Centralization. 
Such a government must always be based upon class support. In 
the continental monarchies of Europe, the government reposes upon 
the support of a privileged aristocracy ; and this coalition of throne 
and nobility is propped by a standing army. In England, the king 
and nobility have been compelled to take into their alliance the 
Aristocracy of Trade ; and the three rule the country with the aid 
of a military constabulary, to keep the people in check. These Cen- 
tralizations are invariably administered, not for the public benefit, 
but in the interest of the class, or classes, which support and admin- 
ister the government. — The centralized government of the United 
States will not be exempt from the force of this general law ; it also 
must rest upon class support, ajid be administered in the interest of 
its privileged supporters, in defiance of public opinion, and in an- 
tagonism with the general welfare of the country. The Radicals 
have already made election of their chosen supporters. They have 
based their power upon the support of the negro population of the 
South, and the capitalists of the North. These factions will main- 
tain the Radicals in power, in opposition to the will of a majority of 
the people of both sections : the majority of Southern population 
will be disfranchised ; while, in the North, the capitalists will con- 
trol their employes, and compel them to vote contrary to their wishes 
in the interest of Radicalism. Securing in this manner a majority 
in Congress, they will rule, like all other centralizations, with the 
aid of an army, and will crush out the opposition of the great mass 
of the people by military force. 

Radicalism has already begun its administration of the govern- 
ment in the interest of its chosen supporters. The Constitutional 
amendments lately passed consisted of a bonus to each of its sev- 
eral constituencies. They linked the Northern capitalist and the 
Southern negro in the amendments, bestowing the franchise upon 



512 the world's crisis. 

the one, and guaranteeing the payment of the public debt owned by 
the other. 

The Radicals, like the old Federalists, are an aristocratic party, 
but tinctured with the fanaticism of the age. They, on all occa- 
sions, sacrifice the public interest to party advantage. Their policy 
is guided by crafty leaders, who direct it with consummate skill and 
singleness of purpose to the attainment of their party aims. Rest- 
ing their party upon the support of Northern capitalists and South- 
ern negroes, all their measures are taken in the interest of these 
two classes. They do not inquire what is necessary for the public 
welfare, but what will subserve the interests of their chosen sup- 
porters, the capitalist, and the negro. Analyze their policy through- 
out, and it will be found to be directed to the patronage of these two 
classes, and that the best interests of the country are sacrificed to 
them. 

1st. They are Ruining the Country in a Desire to Court the Negro. 

In view of the fact that the South js the producer of our most im- 
portant staple, upon which the prosperity of the whole country in 
great measure depends, sound policy requires that the public admin- 
istration should be so directed as to enable the South to recuperate 
its industry as rapidly as possible. But the Radicals seem resolved 
that the South shall grow no more cotton. They strain their inge- 
nuity to devise new methods of oppression. .From their measures, 
one would suppose that they were seconding the policy of England, 
and striving by every possible method to prevent the industry of 
the South from recovering its wonted vigor. 

The planters are crushed and bankrupt : instead of devising some 
method of reviving their drooping energies, or, at least, leaving 
them to recuperate their prosperity by steady, hopeful industry, 
they oppress them by a special tax upon cotton, harry them with 
military rule, and propose to ruin them altogether by general con- 
fiscation. 

Southern labor is demoralized by the freedom of the negro : in- 
stead of promoting mutual confidence between the laboring class 
and the planters, and encouraging the blacks to engage in steady 
labor as the only means of bettering their own condition and re- 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 513 

establishing the prosperity of the country, they are assiduously 
engaged in demoralizing the negro population. They unsettle the 
minds of the negro race by making them the center of political 
agitation ; they prevent the adoption of wholesome laws aiming to 
check vagrancy and promote steady industry, by investing them 
with the franchise, and making them the ruling power in the South- 
ern states. Political emissaries are traversing the South, inspiring 
the negroes with discontent at their condition, and exciting feelings 
of animosity toward their employers, and, to this end, encouraging 
them to aspire to social, as well as political equality. Instead of 
encouraging them to labor, they encourage them to sit in idleness 
and expect the patronage of the government. As if anxious to put 
the finishing stroke to Southern industry, they release the negroes 
from the necessity of labor, by bestowing upon them all the vacant 
lands in the South ; and when these are inadequate, they propose a 
general confiscation of lands for their benefit. Upon these home- 
steads, the negro population may luxuriate in idleness, after the man- 
ner of their race in the West Indies and South America, merely 
laboring enough to produce the necessaries of life for their own 
subsistence. 

How long a continuance of this policy will it require to deprive 
us entirely of the cotton market ? How long before the South will 
cease altogether to raise cotton ! How long before the negroes are 
scattered as idle squatters over the country, leaving the upland 
plantations to relapse into wilderness, and consigning the Missis- 
sippi delta to the dominion of the river ! 

Radical misrule is ruining us in this, the hour of crisis to our- 
selves and to the world. It is destroying our energies when they 
are most needed : it is strengthening the British centralization of 
commerce : it will enable British capitalists to establish the cotton 
culture on a firm basis in the new fields they are fostering : it will 
wrest from us the last opportunity to save ourselves from bank- 
ruptcy, and rescue the world from the dangers which menace it. 

The misrule of the Southern states is alone sufficient to consum- 
mate our ruin. But the Radicals are not content with one leak to 
the sinking vessel. They seem bent on hastening the catastrophe. 

33 



514 the world's crisis. 

Their entire governmental policy rivals in fatuity their treatment of 
the South. 

2d. Their Revenue System is Ruining the Country for the Benefit of 
the Northern Capitalist. 

Burdened as our country is by an enormous debt, every means 
should be adopted to lighten the public burdens. But the Radicals 
are having a hey-day of extravagance. They have multiplied public 
offices, and largely increased the salaries of incumbents. They are 
making lavish and reckless appropriations of public money, as a 
means of making political capital for the party. They are maintain- 
ing a large military establishment in time of peace, whose only use 
is to overawe the states, and maintain the Radical party in the 
establishment of a Centralization. Under their system of reckless 
extravagance, our annual expenditure is greater than that of Russia, 
with its population of eighty millions, and its standing army of a 
million men. 

To maintain this inordinate expenditure, the Radicals have adopted 
an odious and unjust revenue system. Such a system of taxation ! 
No government in Europe, not even the most oppressive, levies 
taxes in a manner so oppressive of the industrial and laboring 
classes. Our system of taxation seems devised for the purpose 
of benefiting the capitalist, while it levies merciless exactions 
upon the industrious and the poor. The British government is con- 
trolled by the aristocracy, who administer it for the benefit of their 
class interests ; but they dare not protect their own interests by the 
oppression of the laboring class, to the extent the Radicals now 
favor their proteges, the Capitalists of the country. Their system 
of taxation is far more oppressive of industry than the financial 
system of any other country. They raise by taxation one hundred 
and fifty million dollars more annual revenue than Great Britain ; 
and the system of taxation by which they levy it, is more oppressive 
than even that of Austria. 

The true system of taxation is to raise revenues by an equally 
adjusted property tax. This system of taxation bears more lightly 
upon community than any that can be devised ; and, indeed, (as will 



RUINOUS POLICY OP THE RADICALS. 515 

hereafter be shown,) it is productive of benefits to productive indus- 
try which go far toward counteracting its burden. 

The political economists of England are apprised of the benefits 
of raising revenues by a property tax, and have long desired to 
bring it about in that country. But the English nobility, who are 
the chief property holders, resist this tendency with all the might 
of their class and political influence. For a time, they ruled the 
country, and levied its taxation exclusively upon the industrious and 
laboring classes, as is now done in this country. The progress of 
enlightened opinion has forced them to give way, to some extent, and 
suffer the amelioration of the system of taxation ; but they still 
resist the property tax, and cause the greater part of the English 
revenues to be levied upon the industrial and laboring classes. The 
Radicals are following the lead of the British aristocracy, from a 
similar desire to propitiate the American aristocracy of wealth. 

In following out the English plan, the Radicals tax everything 
except property. They raise our revenue, 

(1.) By a Tariff upon imports. 

(2.) By direct taxation upon the industry of the country. This 
internal revenue is derived from, 
[1.] A direct tax upon the manufacture of malt and spiritous 
liquors ; and upon other products and manufactures of 
the country; 
[2.] A tax for licenses upon every kind of business ; 
[3.] A stamp tax upon all business transactions ; 
[4.] A tax upon incomes left after paying the other taxes. 

It is evident that this system of taxation benefits a favored class 
of capitalists, and property holders, at the expense of the general 
industry of the country. It is in keeping with the general policy 
of the Radicals, oppressing the mass of community for the benefit 
of a favored aristocracy. 

The tariff is designed to enable certain manufacturers to charge 
the rest of community an enormous price for their commodities. So 
far, therefore, from levying upon them a part of the public burdens, 
the tariff actually increases their profits at the expense of the rest 
of community. As the tariff question will be discussed more at 
large hereafter, it is alluded to in this connection, only in illustra- 



516 THE world's crisis. 

tion of the system of favoritism which is the basis of Radical 
legislation. 

The system of direct taxation is equally or more oppressive of 
productive industry. The property of the country pays nothing ; 
productive industry, everything. A privileged aristocracy is re- 
leased, in great measure, from public burdens. The capitalists who 
hold the public debt are released from taxation ; and the capitalist 
who holds his estate in speculative property investments, is as per- 
fectly exempt from public burdens, as the nobility of England. He 
goes scot free, provided he chooses to live in idleness, and hold his 
estate in some safe investment, rapidly enhancing in value, but 
yielding small annual income. — Contrast the condition of the 
wealthy property holder with that of the active man of business. 
The former seeks a safe, rather than a profitable investment, and 
leads a life of leisure or fashionable dissipation ; the latter, by 
dint of personal energy, makes his capital yield a large income. 
The active man of business pays the government four several 
taxes, — the license tax, the stamp tax on every business transaction, 
the direct tax upon the article he produces, and the income tax on 
all the profits left him at the end of the year. His income tax alone 
is more than double the whole tax of the speculative property holder 
of equal wealth. If each has $100,000, the one is content with an 
investment that is safe and enhancing in value, and yielding an in- 
come of $5,000, or less ; the other, after paying license, stamp, and 
direct tax, has an income of some $10,000, the result of his energetic 
application to business — and, besides his other burdens, pays double 
the income tax of the former. — Again, a man worth one million dol- 
lars invested in lands and city property, may pay less tax than a 
man of business whose capital is but ten thousand dollars, or even 
the clerk whose industry is his only capital. The unjust discrimi- 
nation of this system of taxation might be illustrated at great 
length. It is manifest that it releases the property aristocracy from 
their due proportion of the public burdens, and makes them a 
privileged class. 

It is equally manifest that it levies upon productive industry an 
undue proportion of taxation. Indeed, it compels it to bear the 
entire burden of the public administration. The taxes of every kind 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 517 

fall at last upon the industrious population. A few favored inter- 
ests receive from the government tariff a bonus far greater than the 
sum exacted of them by direct taxation. These excepted, the produc- 
tive industry of the country is weighed to the earth by the burdens 
heaped upon it, for the benefit of a favored aristocracy. This sub- 
ject will again demand attention, when the systematic oppression 
of industry will be traced in detail. 

But the laboring population, who constitute the great mass of 
consumers, feel most severely the burdens of this system of taxation. 
As if to reach the numerous class of poor laborers, while the rich 
in great measure escape, our taxes are all laid upon consumption. 
They are levied in the first place upon the business class ; but the 
business man levies his tax upon the price of his goods, and thus 
transfers the burden to the consumer of his products. The tariff 
levies a tax upon the merchant in the first instance ; but he trans- 
fers the burden to the consumer of his goods. So the internal 
revenue tax is levied upon the business community; but the business 
community levies it, in turn, upon the commodities of their business, 
and it is paid at last by the consumer. — The laboring class which 
constitutes the great mass of population, are the chief consumers, 
and they pay the chief part of the public taxation. 

Let us trace the operation of this system of taxation. 

The Tariff raises the price of all imported articles which enter 
into general consumption. Sugar, coffee, tea, are nearly doubled in 
price by excessive duties; — they are more than doubled by the 
Tariff, and the internal revenue taxes. Heavy taxes are laid on 
every article of food and clothing consumed by the great mass of 
laboring population. There are taxes upon the farmer's produce — 
taxes upon slaughtered animals — taxes upon leather, and upon 
shoes — taxes upon wool, and upon woolen goods — taxes upon 
cotton, and upon cotton goods — taxes upon tobacco, upon fermented 
liquors, upon distilled spirits — taxes upon lumber, brick, glass, 
nails. — In a word, we realize the prediction of Sydney Smith, — 
"taxes* upon every article that enters the mouth, or covers the 

* Sydney Smith to Brother Jonathan. 



518 the world's crisis. 

back, or is placed under the foot, — taxes upon everything which it 
is pleasant to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste, — taxes upon warmth, 
light, and locomotion, — taxes upon everything on earth, and the 
waters under the earth, — taxes upon the sauce which pampers man's 
appetite, and the drug which restores him to health, — taxes on the 
ermine that decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the crim- 
inal, — on the poor man's salt, and the rich man's spice, — on the 
brass nails of the coffin, and the ribbons of the bride, — at bed, or 
board, couchant, or levant, we must pay." 

Nothing escapes taxation. The British aristocracy, in mercy to 
the poor, and to the productive industry of the country, selects a 
few articles on which the burden of taxation is laid. But the Rad- 
icals show no mercy. They tax everything — except property, the 
one thing that ought to be taxed ; and they tax almost every article 
from five to thirty times, before it reaches the consumer. — Take, for 
example, the meats sold our laboring class. The farmer who sells 
the stock cattle to the grazier pays five per cent, tax upon the profits 
of the sale, besides his stamp, and his indirect taxes ; — the grazier* 
who sells to the speculator pays five per cent, upon the profits of his 
sale; — the speculator transports them to market by railways which 
pay five per cent, upon the profits of transportation; — the speculator 
pays taxes both upon his business, and his profits; — and, finally, the 
butcher who slaughters them pays two taxes, — a slaughter tax, and 
a tax upon his profits. And all these six several taxes are laid upon 
the price of the beef, and levied upon the consumer. So, pork pays 
the farmer's tax — the tax of the railway that carries the hog to the 
slaughter house — the income tax and the slaughter tax of the pork 
merchant — the tax of the railways that transport the pork to 
market — the tax of the provision merchant who buys it — and the 
tax of the grocer who sells to the consumer; — and these seven 
taxes are levied on the consumer. Wheat is taxed six times in its 



* It may be objected that the exemption of small incomes from taxation 
contradicts the view of the case here presented. But taxation establishes the 
general price; so that it does not matter in any particular instance, whether the 
stated number of taxes have actually been levied or not: the result is the 
same, — that number of taxes is usual, and it fixes the market price of the 
commodity. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 519 

passage from the farm yard to the consumer; and other articles are 
taxed in like proportion. The taxes upon articles of clothing are 
still heavier. Taxes are levied ten times upon shoes before they 
reach the wearer ; seventeen times upon cotton goods ; twelve times 
upon woolens; twelve times upon liquors. 

These taxes oppress the laboring class in every quarter of the 
country. The negro upon Southern plantations and the operative 
in New England factories, the farm laborer and the colliers, the me- 
chanic and the clerk, the industrious poor, of every class, in our 
cities, — all are crushed by multiplied taxation to the earth. 

The laborer who dwells in the untaxed house of the capitalist is 
borne down with accumulated taxes, levied upon everything he con- 
sumes. — He awakes from slumber, to array himself in his coarse 
work-day clothes, consisting of twelve times taxed pantaloons, sev- 
enteen times taxed cotton shirt, ten times taxed shoes, and twelve 
times taxed coat. He washes himself with taxed water, in a fifteen 
times taxed tin pan, and wipes his face upon a coarse seventeen 
times taxed towel. He sits upon a ten times taxed chair, at a ten 
times taxed table, covered with a seventeen times taxed cloth, and 
from a five times taxed plate, with a five times taxed knife, eats his 
frugal breakfast of seven times taxed pork, and six times taxed 
bread, together with a five times taxed cup of six times taxed coffee, 
sweetened with seven times taxed sugar, stirred with a cheap eight 
times taxed spoon. He dons an old twelve times taxed hat, and 
goes forth to his labor. He eats his noon day lunch of his six times 
taxed bread and four times taxed cheese, together with a five times 
taxed mug of twelve times taxed beer. He returns at night, to 
sleep upon a ten times taxed bed, covered with twelve times taxed 
blankets. — When at last his overtaxed frame yields to disease, a 
taxed doctor drenches him with taxed physic, until death comes to 
his relief. He is then arrayed in a seventeen times taxed shroud, 
and placed in a cheap twelve times taxed pine coffin, ornamented 
with sixteen times taxed brass nails, to be drawn in a thirteen times 
taxed hearse, to the cemetry ; where, as he is too poor to have a 
clergyman in a seventeen times taxed gown, to read the burial 
service from a twenty-nine times taxed prayer book, the sexton 



520 the world's crisis. 

without ceremony, with a twelve times taxed spade, covers his tax- 
wearied remains to untaxed repose at last. 

Sect. 2. — The Radical System of Finance Maintaining an Ex- 
cessive Rise op Prices, which is Ruining our Productive 
Industry. 

The financial system of the Radicals embraces three points : (1) 
A most oppressive and ill-adjusted system of taxation bearing ex- 
clusively upon the productive industry of the country; which en- 
hances the cost of production, with a corresponding increase of the 
prices of all articles in our markets, requiring an increased amount 
of currency to carry on the business of the country. (2) An im- 
mense inflation of the currency, in order to lighten the pressure of 
taxation, and create a temporary factitious prosperity; but which 
still further enhances the cost of production, and inflates the price 
of labor and all articles of consumption. (3) The encouragement 
of the continued exportation of our national debt, as the only means 
of averting a crisis that would involve national bankruptcy and the 
paralysis of our industry. 

I. The Eise of Prices. 

It is the direct tendency of the entire system of finance to pro- 
mote an excessive rise of prices. The inflation and depreciation of 
the currency, the exorbitant protective tariff, and the system of in- 
ternal taxation, — all combine to increase the scale of prices to a 
ruinous extent. The influence of the scheme of internal taxation 
has already been incidentally glanced at, but it is necessary to 
observe more particularly the force of these three causes, to ap- 
preciate their ruinous effect upon the national prosperity. 

1. Our currency is now nearly $800,000,000 ; when Great Britain 
is carrying on her vast industry, raising her immense revenue, and 
conducting the commerce of the world with a currency of only 
$235,000,000. 

The state of the currency inflates prices in two ways ; by its re- 
dundancy, and its depreciation. The redundancy of the currency 
would maintain prices far above the normal standard, even if it 
were at a par with gold. The past experience of the country affords 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 521 

an apt illustration of this fact. In the extraordinary inflation of 
the currency in 1836, when the circulating medium reached $140,- 
000,000, prices advanced beyond all precedent. Property, wages, 
and all commodities were enhanced to the ratio of inflation. Flour 
sold in New York at $10.25. In 1843, when the conditions were 
the same, except that the currency had been curtailed to $68,000,- 
000, the price of flour had fallen to $4.69; and all other articles had 
fallen in the same proportion. 

Besides the effect of the redundancy of the currency, prices are 
now inflated forty per cent, by its depreciation, alone. The conjoint 
influence of these two causes would, without any other, inflate prices 
to a ruinous extent. 

2. T> it the Tariff also exerts a potent influence in raising the scale 
of general prices. 

The duties now average over 56 per cent, in coin (equivalent to 
78 per cent, in currency), upon the value of all imported commodi- 
ties. Upon some important articles, they are much higher. These 
duties raise the price of foreign importations, and enable domestic 
manufacturers to increase their prices in the same ratio. This causes 
a general rise of prices : all the products of domestic industry are 
raised as nearly to the price of protected commodities, as the com- 
petition in business will allow. The farmer wants the advance he 
pays the merchant for his goods : every trade, and every kind of 
labor demands a corresponding advance ; until the scale of prices is 
brought as nearly as possible to the cost of the goods protected by 
the tariff. 

3. The system of internal taxation also, tends directly to enhance 
the general scale of prices. The business community account the 
taxes levied upon them as a charge upon their business, and they 
levy them upon the articles they sell, and thus convert them into a 
charge upon the general community. Thus, the direct taxation of 
the Federal government becomes an indirect tax upon community. 

Let us trace the effect of these three causes, combined, — the Tariff, 
the redundant and depreciated currency, and the internal revenue 
taxation, — upon the prices of the country. 

The price of imported goods is enhanced by these causes to more 



522 

than three times their value in the English market. In the first place, 
at the present value of our money, the prime cost of goods is 38 per 
cent., in greenbacks, over the specie invoice price. Then the tariff 
raises them 56 per cent, in gold, or 78 per cent, in currency. Con- 
sequently, the goods have cost the importer, when removed from the 
custom-house in New York, more than double the English invoice 
price. And this enhancement is caused by the depreciation of the 
currency and the tariff, without any allowance for commissions, 
freights, insurance, and the other charges of commerce. The follow- 
ing table shows the enhanced cost of goods, through the force of 
these two causes. 

English invoice (specie) price of goods, . . $100 00 

Premium on $100 of coin, ... $38 00 

Average rate of customs, . . 56 00 

Premium on $56 of coin, ... 21 00 115 00 



Total cost of goods, $215 00 

Add to this amount the commissions, freight, insurance, and other 
charges upon transportation, — and the cost of the goods will be en- 
hanced to $250 00, as the prime cost when delivered at the mer- 
chant's warehouse. 

And now the internal revenue taxation, and the redundancy of 
the currency, begin their work of enhancement. The importing 
merchant, besides his duties, is required to pay the government a 
license tax, stamp taxes, and an income tax ; and he adds these to 
the price of his goods. The railroads add their taxes to the charge 
for freight. The western merchant adds his own taxes to the cost 
of the goods, when he sells to the retail merchant in the country 
towns ; and the retail merchant levies his taxes upon them. Besides 
this, the various merchants and carriers who transfer the goods to 
the consumer, furthermore increase their prices, on account of the 
inflation and depreciation of the currency. By the time the goods 
reach the consumer, they cost not less than four times the English 
invoice price. — And, now, the farmer must raise the price of his 
produce as high as competition will allow. — Then, produce, as well 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 523 

as imported goods being dear, and all manufactures protected by the 
Tariff having raised their prices to the lev-el of imported commodi- 
ties, — all other manufacturers raise their prices as nearly as possible 
to the same level. The inflation of prices becomes general. — And 
now, the laboring class feel the oppression of high prices, and 
clamor for an increase of wages ; and, by means of combinations 
and strikes, they compel employers to concede their demands. 

Now begins a struggle to obtain another rise of prices. Em- 
ployers find their expenses increased by the inflation of prices and 
the high rates of labor, and set on foot combinations to effect another 
rise of prices. This advance, again, causes the laboring population 
to demand a commensurate rise of wages ; — and so the ball rolls on, 
until prices reach a maximum limit, beyond which they cannot go 
without the destruction of industry. Employers raise their own 
prices, and yield to the demands of their employes until this limit is 
reached; then they resolve rather to stop business than to yield to 
further demands ; — and prices at last become stationary at a point 
highly oppressive of the laboring class. 

We see the effect of these causes in the general scale of prices 
prevailing in the United States. All imported manufactures, and 
all home manufactures in competition with them under tariff protec- 
tion, cost the American consumer from four to six times the Eu- 
ropean price for the* same articles. 

II. The Inflation of Prices Ruinous of every Branch of Productive In- 
dustry. 

This inflation of prices is injurious to the industry of the country 
in many particulars. In this connection, we shall notice it under 
two aspects, only, — its oppression of the industrial class ; and its 
ruinous effect upon our productive industry. 

* A recent writer from Europe states that a man may cross the ocean by 
steamer, and visit London or Paris, and save the cost of the trip in the purchase 
of a single suit of clothes. A lady visiting Paris states that a silk, such as 
would cost in New York from $200 to $250, may be obtained, there, for $40 or 
$50. Other articles, worth in the French capital $2.50 and $5.00, cost in New 
York establishments $10.00, and $35.00, respectively. 



524 THE world's crisis. 

1st The Inflation of Prices Oppressive of every Industrial Class. 

Its effect in this regard may be best illustrated by a comparison 
with the prices of 1860. Even at that time, our prices were inflated 
by a redundant currency and a faulty industrial system, much be- 
yond the European standard. But they have, now, gone far beyond 
the standard rates of that date. 

By a careful comparison of prices, it appears that the profits and 
expenses of the different branches of industry have, since 1860, 
advanced in the following ratio : — 

(1.) Our imports, and the products of protected manufactures, are 
enhanced, upon an average, 115 per cent, over the European invoice 
price, — being 95 per cent, over the import cost of 1860. Some 
favored manufactures have been increased by the Tariff much be- 
yond this limit ; while many manufactures, under the pressure of 
mutual competition, are below it. 

(2.) Wages of laborers and operatives in the various mechanical 
employments have advanced 79 per cent, over the prices of 1860 ; 
the price of raw material has, upon an average, advanced 100 per 
cent.: making an average advance of charges upon mechanical em- 
ployments, of at least 85 per cent. 

(3.) The price of food and clothing for all classes of consumers 
engaged in mechanical industry has advanced so as to increase the 
cost of living over 100 per cent. 

(4.) The average advance upon the farmer's price for agricultural 
staples is only 47 per cent. 

From these facts, it is easy to show that the enhancement of prices 
is ruinous to every class of productive industry, — to the class whose 
means are invested in mechanical production ; to the agriculturist ; 
and to the great mass of mechanics, and operative population. 

1. It is oppressive of capitalists whose means are embarked in me- 
chanical industry ; even in those branches which receive the average 
tariff protection. 

In 1860, our mechanical industry had the protection of a revenue 
tariff imposing an average rate of 20 per cent, ad valorem duties ; 
they, now, have protection equivalent, upon an average, to 115 per 
cent. But their expenses for labor and raw material have advanced 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 525 

85 per cent. — Where their expenses were $100, they are now $185 : 
where they sold their goods for $1.20, they now sell for $2.15. If 
their profits were then $1.20, less $1.00 — they are now $2.15, less 
$1.85; i. e., where they then made 20 cents clear, above running 
expenses, they now make 30 cents. But the 20 cents profit, in 
1860, was clear specie profit, whereas the 30 cents profit of 1867 
has several drawbacks. In the first place, the government taxation 
must be deducted : this, in direct tax, license and stamp taxes, and 
income tax, will be at least 10 per cent, of the net profits — which 
will leave 27 cents profit in currency, equivalent to 19J cents in 
specie; so that where the manufacturer made 20 cents in 1860, he 
now makes, after paying taxes, 27 cents, in currency. But the 
purchasing power of money, in 1860, was at least 90 per cent, 
greater than now : twenty cents, then, would go as far toward the 
support of a family, and the purchase of property, as 38 cents will, 
now. Hence, in 1860, with a tariff of 20 per cent., the net profits 
of the manufacturer were 11 per cent, more valuable than his profits 
in 1867, with a tariff protection amounting to 115 per cent. 

Let us place this estimate in a business shape, that we may the 
better compare the profits of the manufacturer, then, and now. In 
1860, according to our supposition, the manufacturer whose ex- 
penses for labor, and raw material, and running machinery, were 
$10,000, sold his goods for $12,000, realizing $2,000 clear profit, in 
specie. The same manufacturer, now, finds his expenses increased 
to $18,500, while he sells his goods at $21,500, — making a profit in 
currency of $3,000, which is reduced by taxation to $2,700. But 
the purchasing power of this sum, now, is only equal to $1,500, in 
1860. If the manufacturer, in 1860, expended $1,000 in support 
of his family, the same expenses would now amount to $1,900 ; so 
that while he then saved $1,000 in specie, he now saves only $800 
in currency. And, as property is now 90 per cent, higher than 
then, the net savings of the manufacturer, then, would purchase two 
and a half times more property than they will now. — But if the 
manufacturer then spent $1,500, leaving an annual savings of $500, 
the same expenditure would now exhaust all his profits. If he then 
spent his entire income in support of his family, his business would 
now leave him $1,300 in debt, every year. 



526 the world's crisis. 

There are a few favored interests which make profits far above 
this standard. Thus, the enhanced cost of cotton has not increased 
the relative expenses of the American manufacturer ; since his 
European competitor pays prices equally high. And the systema- 
tized domination of the cotton manufacturers over their operatives 
has kept the rate of wages below the average scale of labor. Owing 
to these facts, the cotton manufacturers of New England are making 
enormous profits. The woolen manufacturers, also, are flourishing 
under the protection of government ; the present duties on foreign 
woolens enabling them to raise the price of their goods 200 per 
cent, over the English invoice price for goods of the same quality. 
Some other manufactures, also, are flourishing under the patronage 
of government.* 

* The question naturally arises, If these manufactures are so flourishing, 
why do they continually complain of stagnation and inadequate profits, and de- 
mand higher duties as necessary for the continuance of their business. There 
are several reasons. 

1. They naturally desire to make greater profits, even when the business is 
already highly profitable. It is human nature to always want more, if asking 
will get it. 

2. They do find the market full of foreign goods, and trade consequently dull; 
though sales, when effected, are at profitable rates. They demand additional 
duties, in the groundless expectation that they will exclude foreign goods. Of 
this more hereafter. 

3. But the principal reason of this outcry of distress and demand for more 
protection, has its foundation in a politic desire to prevent home competition. 
Manufacturers fear two competitions — home, and foreign. They demand tariffs 
to protect them from the foreign competition ; and they continually raise a cry 
of distress, to prevent more home capital from being invested in the business. 
It is very remarkable that these manufacturers never make accurate calcula- 
tions, and lay the facts of their condition before the people. They always deal 
in generalities. If these general complaints do not suffice to coerce the govern- 
ment into granting more protection, they shut up their mills as evidence of their 
suffering condition. When meetings are necessary to obtain concerted action in 
bringing pressure to bear upon Congress, they do not meet in the presence of the 
public, but, secluded in hotels, in secret conclave. Thus, at a time when their 
mills are netting 400 per cent, annual profit upon the capital invested, they are 
urging Congress to increase their protection, merely from rapacity, and from a 
desire to give the public a false impression of their profits, and thus deter capi- 
talists from embarking in their business. Their aim is to prevent the growth of 
our manufactures, and thus maintain for themselves a monopoly of our market. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 527 

But the above estimate presents in a light even too favorable, the 
condition of most branches of mechanical industry. Many of them 
have not obtained protection up to the average taken as the basis 
of the above estimate ; while their expenses have been increased 
beyond the percentage of our estimate. 

2. The agriculturist suffers more than the mechanical producer 
from the rise of prices. 

If there were an active demand, farming produce would rise until 
it reached the general scale of advance. Marketing, for which 
there is a brisk demand, has so advanced. But this comprises but 
a small portion of the farmer's sales. The staple products of agri- 
culture are depressed far below the average rate of prices. The 
Southern market is in great measure closed by the depressed con- 
dition of that section ; and high prices shutting us out of the Euro- 
pean market, the supply of agricultural staples is in excess of the 
demand. Upon articles which are grown in great abundance, as 
corn, rye, oats, etc., the price of 1866 was only 16 per cent, in ad- 
vance of 1859. Wheat is the only exception to the general depres- 
sion. The inadequate prices caused farmers to sow less wheat, year 
after year, until the failure of the crop of 1866 caused a scarcity 
which raised the price far above the general average of agricultural 
produce. Reckoning wheat at its present exceptional price, the 
average advance on produce since 1860 is 47 per cent. Leaving 
out wheat, the average advance is 42 per cent. 

Let us compare the present and former condition of the agricul- 
turalist. The surplus produce which, in 1860, sold for $1,000, now 
sells for $1,470. From this we must deduct five per cent, income 
tax, and at least two per cent, more for various stamp taxes on busi- 
ness transactions, — leaving a net income of $1,367. The expenses 
of the farmer have advanced fully 90 per cent.; for, though labor 
has not advanced so much, the advance of his other expenses will 
bring it to that point as an average rate. — At that rate, the $1,000 
which he made clear, in 1860, was equal to $1,900, now. If, in 
1860, he spent his entire income of $1,000 — to live as well, now, 
would bring him $533 in debt, every year. The expenses which 
would now consume his entire income, would then leave him an an- 
nual savings of $281. The purchasing power of the farmer's returns 



528 the world's crisis. 

from his crops is 27 per cent, less than in 1860, and he is damaged 
by the rise of prices to that extent. 

3. The Laboring Class suffers yet more severely from the rise of 
prices. The wages of mechanics, upon an average, have advanced 
79 per cent. But the cost of living has advanced more than 100 
per cent. The mechanic who, in 1860, earned one dollar per day, 
now earns $1.79, — while the dollar, then, was equal, in the support 
of a family, to two dollars, now. If the wages of a mechanic, then, 
just supported his family, he must now stint to the extent of 20 
cents daily. This is no inconsiderable item to a man whose wages 
barely suffice for a support. It occasions a degree of painful econ- 
omy of which the wealthy have no conception. It is, indeed, equiv- 
alent to striking out one-tenth of the mechanic's income. 

But the great mass of unskilled and unorganized labor obtain 
wages very little in advance of old prices. The advance upon such 
labor has ranged from 25 to 50 per cent., — which is wholly inad- 
equate to comfortable subsistence, at present prices. The laborer 
who now receives $1.50, where he formerly received $1.00, is dread- 
fully oppressed by the rise of prices. Its effect has been the same 
as striking out one-fourth of his wages, — their purchasing power 
being diminished 25 per cent. Such a laborer is under the neces- 
sity of depriving himself of accustomed comforts to the extent of 
fifty cents a day. 

Thus the agriculturalist, the laborer, and the capitalist engaged 
in mechanical production, all suffer from the present enhancement 
of prices. They all suffer, because the returns from their industry 
are not advanced in ratio with the general scale of prices inflated 
by tariff, internal taxation, and a redundant and depreciated cur- 
rency. — Farmers never complain. They make economy of expense 
eke out deficiency of income. They are fortunately situated, in 
producing for themselves the necessaries of life, so that adversity 
only compels them to diminish the consumption of such luxuries or 
comforts as may, with more or less privation, be dispensed with. — 
Other industrial classes are less fortunately situated. They have 
everything to buy, and, with the greater number, expenses consume 
all their income. Any deficiency of income, and especially any 
falling off, is severely felt, and elicits grievous complaint. The 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 529 

distress both of manufacturers and of operatives is seen in their 
clamor for relief, — the one, striking for higher wages; the other, 
demanding additional protection by an increase of the tariff. But 
neither can have their demands granted, without injuring the other; 
and to concede the demands of both, would simply maintain the 
present status, — the expenses of both being increased in the ratio 
of the increase of income. 
Whither does all this tend? 

2d. The Inflation of Prices Ruinous of Productive Industry. 

This is the end to which every sign of the times points. Ruin 
is the gulf — the " end-all " — in which, without a speedy change of 
policy, the problem of our situation must find solution, — Ruin to our 
laboring class, to mechanical production, and to agriculture. 

The strikes of the laboring class for higher wages, and of manu- 
facturers for increased protection, are both bootless. If they should 
succeed, they would only raise the general scale of prices still higher, 
giving increased force to the agency which is causing the overthrow 
of our prosperity. It is useless to raise the dam, — that policy will 
only end in a crevasse, and a deluge that will sweep all our hopes 
away. 

The only hope of better times lies, not in a further rise, but in 
a fall of prices. 

While high prices continue, the operative class must endure their 
misery as best they may. Patient sufferance is all that Radical rule 
has left them. A thoughtful writer presents the following judicious 
reflections upon the condition of labor: "The only solution of this 
labor question is to be found in the melancholy fact that the laborer 
must learn to live in a more economical fashion. He must do with- 
out many of those luxuries he has hitherto enjoyed. He cannot 
help it ; nor will any contrivance of the philanthropic enable him to 
avoid the result. The burden of increased taxation on the laborer 
will cut off from one who has no accumulated means, those expensive 
comforts he has enjoyed in common with the wealthy. Plain food, 
plain dress, and no surplus for superfluities will be the rule he cannot 
violate ; and he will, henceforth, in the distinction of classes, re- 

34 



530 the world's crisis. 

semble his fellow-laborer in other countries, heretofore less favored 
than ours. This law he cannot repeal, or violate with impunity ; 
but its due observance will be the saddest lesson ever learned in this 
Western world." 

And is it indeed true, that the great mass of our population are 
to be degraded by poverty to the condition of the pauper labor of 
Europe ? Then, farewell liberty ! farewell morality ! farewell social 
elevation of man ! 

Equally bootless will be the efforts of manufacturers to find relief 
in a further increase of prices. Prices are now too high. Even at 
their present standard, the mechanical industry of the country is 
being prostrated. It needs no argument to prove the ruinous effect 
of the present exorbitant prices upon our mechanical production. 
A few facts will show it more forcibly than tomes of reasoning. 

(1.) In England, a ton of pig iron can be made for $37.50 ; at the 
present rate of prices, its manufacture in the United States costs 
$104. Consequently, the owners of iron works declare that they 
must have additional protection — or their men must work for re- 
duced wages — or their works must close. Lrhardly seems possible to 
reduce the wages of labor at the present cost of living, without 
frightful destitution ; — an increase of the tariff will only raise yet 
higher the prevailing scale of prices, and increase the suffering ; — the 
alternative is the ruin of this branch of productive industry. ' 

(2.) A ship that in Canada can be built for $20,000, costs $50,- 
000 in the dockyards of the United States. As the result, we have 
the official statement that "shipbuilding as a branch of American in- 
dustry has, to a considerable extent, passed* away." A few small 
schooners are on the stocks in some of our ship yards, — but no large 
vessels are being built. Almost all the yards are closed ; the little 
work going on in those yet open, consists chiefly of repairs. 

(3.) In several branches of manufacture, factories have suspended 
operations, compelled to close by the excessive expenses incident to 
the prevailing scale of prices. 

(4.) In consequence of the great advance in the cost of building, 

* Keport of the Secretary of the Navy. 



RUINOUS POLICY OP THE RADICALS. 531 

the business has declined in all our cities, throwing thousands of 
operatives out of employment. 

A continuance of high prices "will cause a general collapse of 
mechanical industry. 

Equally gloomy is the prospect before us, in consequence of the 
depression of our agricultural production. This threatens nothing 
less than the destruction of our export trade. 

Our staple exports are chiefly agricultural products, — brcadstuffs 
and provisions from the North ; and the great Southern staples, 
cotton, rice, and tobacco. — If the existing financial condition of the 
country continues, our products will be cut off from foreign mar- 
kets, and our export trade will cease. The cost of production, and 
the expense of living are so excessively increased, that our agricul- 
turists cannot grow products as cheaply as they can be produced 
abroad. 

The influence of this state of things upon our breadstuff trade is 
already apparent. Formerly, when the cost of production was com- 
paratively cheap, our agricultural produce kept possession of our 
own markets, and, when exported, found a profitable sale at prevail- 
ing prices abroad. But, now, every country on earth can grow 
brcadstuffs cheaper than we. Our breadstuff export trade is almost 
annihilated. In 1861, when old prices prevailed, our exports of 
breadstuffs in the four last months of the year, amounted to $42,- 
500,000. In the same months of 1862, they fell off to $27,800,000 ; 
in the same months of 1863, they declined to $8,909,000 ; and, in 
1864, to $1,850,000. Now, breadstuffs have been shipped from 
France and England to New York, and sold at a profit. It is a sig- 
nificant fact that in the last Congress, it was proposed to protect our 
agricultural interests from foreign competition in our own markets, 
by duties on importations. When this becomes necessary, Ave may 
expect to cease all exportation. Indeed, the exportation of farming 
produce is only possible, now, at a loss : either, the producer is 
forced to sell cheaper than he can afford, by the excess of supply 
over demand; or, our import merchants are meeting their liabilities 
abroad, by the shipment of produce even at a loss, and making up 
for it by higher prices upon their goods. 



532 the wokld's crisis. 

Our cotton will sustain itself with equal difficulty in the foreign 
market against the competition of new fields. While cotton con- 
tinues to bear an exorbitant price, the planting interest may sustain 
itself, though with difficulty, under the burdens imposed upon it. 
But these prices cannot continue. The exportation of half a crop 
from the United States will cause such an excess of supply, as to 
lower the market to its old price of twelve or fourteen cents a pound. 
Foreign fields, as experience has proved, can grow cotton, and will 
grow it in large quantities, at those prices. But, in the present 
financial condition of the country, we cannot. The charges upon 
cotton between the gin and Liverpool, at the present exaggerated 
rates, amount to ten and a half cents a pound. This will leave 
scarcely any margin for the expenses of supporting a plantation, 
raising the crop, and preparing it for market. 

Under the present condition of things, the actual cost of growing, 
paying taxes, and delivering a pound of cotton in Liverpool, is not 
less than twenty-eight cents* in currency, equivalent to a Liverpool 

* The following estimate of the cost of producing cotton under the existing 
regime is made by a practical planter. The estimate assumes that all articles 
of consumption, except meat, are produced on the plantation. It also estimates 
the average product of cotton, under the existing condition of labor, at three 
bales to the hand. This seems a low estimate, but last year the average was 
only two bales to the hand. 

50 hands, at an average of three bales to the hand, will produce 150 bales of 
500 lbs. each, or 75,000 lbs. This, at 17 cents per pound, is worth - - $12,750 

COST OF PRODUCTION. 

Wages 50 hands, at $125 per annum .... $6,250 

Cost of bacon, (3£ lbs. a week,) $26 for each hand - - 1,300 

Superintendent, board, etc. 1,500 

Blacksmith's work, keeping tools in good condition - - 500 

Bagging, rope and twine, for 150 bales, at $3 - - - 450 

Loss by death, and depreciation of mules and horses - - 1,000 

Depreciation of lands, houses, gin, screw, etc. ... 750 
Sundries, including hoes, axes, traces, nails, hinges, salt, and 

other things - - - 500 

State and county taxes 400 



$12,650 
This shows the cost of growing cotton, without counting interest on invest- 
ment, is within a fraction of 17 cents a pound. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 533 

specie price of twenty cents. The Liverpool price has already 
nearly fallen to that standard. At present prices, cotton barely 
pays the expenses of growing and shipping to market, scarcely 
leaving any profit to the planter. — The present policy of the Radi- 
cals is rapidly destroying our cotton culture. Many planters are 
growing all their own supplies, and raising cotton only as an extra 
crop ; while others, in discouragement, are suffering their plantations 
to lie* idle. Another year of experiment in the cotton culture 
under a continued decline of prices, will satisfy every planter that, 
under existing conditions, it isf a losing business, — and it will be 
abandoned. 

Thus, unable to compete with either foreign breadstuffs, or foreign 
cotton, in the European market, we will be practically without exports. 

The following table gives the expenses upon a bale of cotton weighing 500 
pounds between the plantation and Liverpool. The items of charges are taken 
from the estimate of an experienced cotton planter in the interior of Mississippi : 

Freight on railroad to N. Orleans 4 00 
Dray age, storage, brokerage, and 

weighing - - - - 2 00 
Fire insurance - - - 1 50 
Commissions (2£ per cent.on $150) 3 75 
Freight to Liverpool and inci- 
dental expenses - - 15 00 



County tax - 


$ 1 75 


Mississippi State tax - 


1 00 


Louisiana State tax 


1 25 


United States Internal Revenue 


tax .... 


10 00 


United States Income tax 


7 50 


Hauling to railroad - 


5 00 



Total $52 75 

This is a cost of 10| cents a pound; making with the cost of production over 
27 cents a pound which cotton costs the planter before it reaches Liverpool. 

* Such announcements as the following clipped from a late paper shows the 
depression of the planting interest: 

" A plantation of fifteen hundred or two thousand acres, in Wilcox county, 
Alabama, which produced before the war, from 8,000 to 10,000 bushels of corn, 
and from 350 to 500 bales of cotton, was rented last week for $130." 

f Cotton has already (1868) fallen to a price which will not cover the expenses 
of production. Its culture is being abandoned. The anticipations of twelve 
months ago are already being fulfilled to the letter. At the present scale of gen- 
eral prices, cotton production is an impossibility in this country. Planters may 
continue to grow some cotton as an extra crop, to obtain money for necessary ex- 
penses; but cotton production is no longer a business in which capital will be 
embarked with a view to profitable returns. Prices must return to the normal 
standard before we can grow cotton in competition with foreign fields. 



534 THE world's crisis. 

Indeed, our exports have already so declined, that a large annual 
balance of trade accrues against us, which we settle by the sale of 
bonds. The exportation of bonds is going on every year. Our 
foreign debt has already attained a magnitude that should give us 
the gravest concern. But still the exportation of bonds continues, 
encouraged by the government, as the only method of averting a 
crash that would otherwise occur at any moment. This, alone, has 
prevented our rotten financial system from falling with a crash, long 
ago. In the last four years, our imports have exceeded our exports 
by more than four hundred millions, and bonds sold at a discount 
have made up the deficit. 

But let our exports continue to decline, as they must do under the 
present inflation of prices, and our bonds will soon be discredited in 
the foreign market, or else they will all be absorbed in paying for 
our imports and meeting the annual interest. Then will come such 
a crash as has never been witnessed under the sun. The ruin of 
the French Mississippi scheme, and the bursting of the British 
South Sea bubble, were nothing to it. The debts of those countries 
were owed to their own citizens, and they could rub out old scores 
and start anew. But we will be involved with foreign creditors ; 
and the oppression of an inexorable debt that cannot be wiped out 
by repudiation will add to the horrors of universal bankruptcy. 

It requires no argument to show that, under existing circum- 
stances, the idea of competing with Great Britain in the cotton, or 
any other manufacture, is preposterous. We have none of the con- 
ditions of cheap manufacture, — neither cheap raw material, nor 
cheap labor, nor cheap provisions. Every thing is dearer with us, 
than in Great Britain. Even the currency, redundant as it is, has 
become dear ; money is as scarce as in ordinary times. This seems 
anomalous ; but with the enormous enhancement of all prices, our 
$800,000,000 of currency is hardly more adequate to the transac- 
tion of the business of the country, than $250,000,000 would be, in 
a normal state of prices. Before we can hope to engage in suc- 
cessful competition with Great Britain, our system of administration 
and of finance must be altogether changed. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 535 

The country is oppressed by the worst evils of misrule. The na- 
tional industry is prostrated by a system of Administration so ill- 
judged that charity can hardly attribute the ruinous policy to folly. 
If the Radical party were actuated by absolute hatred of the coun- 
try, and were deliberately resolved upon its ruin, they could not 
adopt a policy better adapted to accomplish the purpose. All their 
measures are characterized by an utter want of statesmanlike sa- 
gacity. They seem to have lost, if they ever possessed, the power 
to trace causes to their necessary results, and, as if possessed by a 
judicial blindness, they are driving the nation headlong upon the 
breakers which lie before us. It is blindness which possesses them ! 
But it is the darkened intellect which God has, by an inevitable and 
benignant law of our being, affixed upon a nature convulsed by bale- 
ful passions. Did not passions blind their victims, — were the acute- 
ness of the mental vision exalted in ratio with the mad passions 
which sway the soul, — the world could never escape the domination of 
evil. But it is mercifully provided that the reign of passions dark- 
ens the understanding of the individual or the party which cherishes 
them. They precipitate the adoption of a policy dictated by blind 
passion or narrow selfish craft, — a policy of cunning or of violence, 
rather than sound, far-sighted statesmanship, — a policy which always 
wrecks the prosperity of the country, and, mercifully to mankind, 
buries the party which adopted it beneath the ruin it has wrought. 
The policy of the Radicals is rapidly tending to this result. Unless 
their career is promptly checked, they will plunge the country into 
irremediable ruin, and wreck with it the cause of human progress. 

The laws of industry lie beyond the control of despotic power. 
Every other opposition may be crushed by violence ; but God has 
subjected Industry to immutable laws, whose violation inflicts upon 
Wrong merited retribution. Prosperity cannot be coerced by power ; 
nor Ruin repelled. The laws of industry are mightier than the scep- 
ter of despotism. Tyranny must bow to their sway, or be crushed 
by their stern, inflexible reaction. — A profound thinker, indulging 
in reflections upon the causes of the French Revolution of 1789, 
offers a suggestion pregnant with meaning in the present condition 
of this country. Heed the wisdom of Carlyle : — 

" Great is Bankruptcy ; the great bottomless gulf into which all 



536 the world's crisis. 

Falsehoods, public and private, sink disappearing ; whither, from the 

first origin of them, they were all doomed With 

a Fortunatus' purse in its pocket, through what length of time might 
not any Falsehood last! Your Soeiety, your Household, practical 
or spiritual arrangement, is untrue, unjust, offensive in the eye of 
God and man. Nevertheless, its hearth is warm, its larder well re- 
plenished : the innumerable Swiss of Heaven with a kind of natural 
loyalty gather round it ; will prove by pamphleteering, musketeer- 
ing, that it is a Truth; or, if not an unmixed (unearthly, impossible) 
Truth, then better, a wholesomely attempered one (as wind is to the 
shorn lamb), and works well. Changed outlook, however, when 
purse and larder grow empty ! Was your arrangement so true, so 
accordant to Nature's ways, then how in the name of wonder, has 
Nature with her infinite bounty come to leave it famishing there ? 
To all men, to all women, and all children, it is now indubitable that 
your Arrangement was false ! — Honor to Bankruptcy, ever right- 
eous on the great scale, though in detail it is so cruel ! Under all 
Falsehoods it works, unweariedly mining. No Falsehood, did it rise 
heaven-high and cover the world, but Bankruptcy one day will sweep 
it down, and make us free of it." 

These thoughts are as just in conception as forcible in expression. 
Bankruptcy, if no earlier deliverance comes, will free America from 
the yoke of Radical misrule. Stern, uncajolable Bankruptcy ! Its 
knock is already upon the portal, and Radicalism is unbarring the 
door, to let the Giant in. 



537 



PART II. 

OUR TRUE POLICY. 

It is not too late to retrieve our fortunes. But to do so, will re- 
quire a prompt and signal change of policy. The disorganization 
of Southern labor by the demoralizing interference of the govern- 
ment must be remedied ; and our entire financial system must be 
reversed. 

It should be the grand aim of our policy to deprive England of its 
centralization of manufactures and commerce. We should engage 
in a competition that would drive that country, not only from our 
own market, but from the markets of the world. As we have 
already seen, this is the only hope of securing our own prosperity, 
and of averting the dangers which menace the world, both from 
British centralization of wealth, and from the aggressions of 
Absolutism. 

In this competition, we may expect all the great resources of 
England to be arrayed against us. Our own natural advantages, 
however, are superior to hers, and a wise policy will assure our 
success. Yet the occasion demands the utmost skill and prudence. 
We cannot afford to carry weight. We must discipline and train 
our energies for the competition, as the athlete of old, for the prize 
of the Olympic games. 

We may consider our competition with England as an industrial 
battle, to be conducted in accordance with the scientific principles 
of military strategy. 

An army which has overwhelming advantages, in numbers, disci- 
pline, and resources, may enter upon an engagement without plan 
or precaution, and win a victory by simply pressing forward at all 
points. But a force inferior in all these particulars must observe 
every precaution prudence can suggest, and avail itself of every ad- 
vantage skill can conceive. Victory, under such circumstances, is 



538 the world's crisis. 

oftenest won by selecting the key to the adversary's position, and, 
remaining on the defensive at other points of the line, concentrating 
an overwhelming force to carry it. 

The cotton manufacture is the key to the whole field of competi- 
tion. The possessor of that is master of the situation. 

Nature has given us great advantages in respect of this manufac- 
ture. But in fighting our battle of industry with England, we must 
display generalship. We must not attempt too much. We must 
not enter into competition with Great Britain in all branches of 
manufacturing, at once. That would divide our limited means, and 
fritter our efforts in puny, fruitless efforts. We must concentrate 
our energies, to carry the one vital point which, once gained, de- 
cides the contest in our favor. We must select the cotton manu- 
facture as the channel into which the mightiest energies of the 
country must be turned ; making other branches of industry, for 
the time, auxiliary to this grand aim. 

Let us now consider the means necessary to be adopted, to insure 
success. — Our great aim must be to promote, in every possible man- 
ner, the growth and manufacture of cotton. To this end, three 
things are necessary : — 

i. to make the growth, and manufacture of cotton, safe 
Branches of Business. 

ii. to make the growth and manufacture of cotton profit- 
able, at the prices, to which british competition will limit us. 

III. To adopt such Measures, as will Prevent England from 
Destroying our Industry, and, at the same time, cripple her 
competiton. 

We will elaborate the proper policy to be adopted, under these 
aspects. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 539 



CHAPTER I 

MEASURES NECESSARY TO MAKE THE GROWTH AND MANU- 
FACTURE OF COTTON SAFE BRANCHES OF BUSINESS. 

Safety is absolutely essential to the development of our cotton 
industry. If exposed to dangerous contingencies, capital will never 
embark in it with the promptitude and energy necessary to a suc- 
cessful competition with England. Capitalists will not risk their 
means in a business exposed to dangerous vicissitudes. They will 
prefer to engage in other branches of business, where there is little 
risk, and where profits, if light, are sure. 

The prime essential to the safety of investments, in cotton grow- 
ing, and cotton manufacturing, both, is an abundant and reliable 
labor for growing the staple. No business man will invest capital 
in growing cotton, unless he can be sure of securing labor enough 
of a reliable character, to enable him to carry on his planting opera- 
tions : nor will any capitalist invest money in factories for manufac- 
turing cotton, unless there is a reasonable certainty of a regular 
supply of raw material. A reliable labor system for growing cot- 
ton, is the first and prime essential to success. 

This was the greatest advantage of the former system of slave 
labor. The labor was perfectly reliable. The planter could pitch 
his crop with a reasonable certainty of being able to cultivate and 
secure it. And the capitalist could engage in manufacturing, with 
a positive assurance of an abundant supply of cotton. 

Have we, now, a reliable labor system, in the South ? Will capi- 
talists readily embark means in plantations for growing cotton, and 
in mills for manufacturing it ? Have they sufficient confidence in 
the negro labor of the South, under existing circumstances, to 
induce them to venture capital, in reliance on it? 

The negro labor of the South is as well adapted to the cotton cul- 
ture as any in the world. But, under the existing regime, no one 
will pronounce negroes reliable laborers. 

All experience has proved that the negro, in a state of freedom, 



540 

is naturally indolent. In the island of Jamaica, the production of 
staples has greatly diminished since the emancipation of the negroes. 
In that luxuriant climate, the negro population has greatly increased, 
notwithstanding their idleness. But the exports, which, in 1810, 
amounted to the value of £3,303,579, in 1864, twenty years after the 
slaves were emancipated, had fallen to £403,520 ; while the imports, 
which, in 1810, were £4,038,397, had fallen, in 1864, to £932,316. 
Within fifteen years after emancipation, 600 sugar and coffee plan- 
tations, containing 350,000 acres, were abandoned ; and within the 
five following years, the decline of industry continued, until 573 
other plantations, containing 391,000 acres, were turned to waste. 
Emancipation has destroyed four-fifths of the commerce of the 
island, and has consigned over 1,000 plantations to waste, besides 
vastly diminishing the productiveness of those still in cultivation. 
The following is the picture drawn of the present condition of the 
island : — 

" Shipping has deserted her ports ; her magnificent plantations 
of sugar and coffee are running to weeds ; her private dwellings are 
falling to decay ; the comforts and luxuries which belong to indus- 
trial prosperty have been cut off, one by one, from her inhabitants; 
and the day is at hand, when no one will be left to represent the 
wealth, intelligence, and hospitality, for which the Jamaica planter 
was once so distinguished." 

In all the South American states, emancipation has been the 
signal for a cessation of industry. Idleness among the blacks, is 
almost universal. The mildness of the climate enables them to dis- 
pense with clothing, and the luxuriant soil yields esculents without 
the labor of tillage. Blacks are to be seen all over the country — 
living in sheds without walls, merely covered with bamboo leaves, to 
afford shelter from the rain — luxuriating in the savage indolence 
characteristic of the race in Africa. 

In St. Domingo, the colored race has enjoyed every facility for 
improvement. They are the ruling race ; and we should expect to 
find, there, the highest development of negro industry and civil- 
ization. What are the facts? In 1789, the population was 600,- 
000; in 1832, after forty years of freedom, it was reduced to 280,- 
000: in 1789, there were exported 672,000,000 pounds of sugar; 
in 1832, none : in 1789, the export of coffee was 86,000,000 pounds; 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 541 

in 1832, it was 32,000,000 : in 1789, the island employed 1,680 ships, 
and 27,000 sailors ; in 1832, only one ship, and 167 sailors. — An 
American from the Northern states, visiting the island in 1854, 
writes to Putnam's magazine the following sketch of the habits of 
the negroes : — 

" To a large extent, the resources of this island are, at present, 
undeveloped, and it presents a wide contrast with its former wealth 
and productiveness. In 1789, it contained a population of 40,000 
whites, 500,000 slaves, and 24,000 free colored. Not only its rich 
plains, but in many parts its mountains were cultivated to their sum- 
mits. The cultivated lands amounted to 2,289,480 acres ; which were 
divided into 793 plantations of sugar, 3,117 plantations of coffee, 3,160 
of indigo, 54 of chocolate, and 623 smaller ones for raising grain, 
yams, and other vegetable food. Its exports, as stated by the intendant 
of the colony, were £4,765,229 sterling. An active commerce 
united it with Europe, and twenty ports of trade were filled with 
1,500 vessels, waiting to freight home its rich productions. In riding 
over the island the mementos of this prosperity are everywhere to 
be seen. Large broken kettles, the remains of immense sugar houses, 
are scattered along the roads and over the fields. The remains of 
massive and magnificent gateways, and the ruins of princely 
dwellings, scattered over the island, are evidences of the highest 
state of wealth and luxury. But these rich plains and mountains, 
are now almost an uncultivated waste. A few coifee plantations are 
to be found, which are kept up with the greatest difficulty, on account 
of the impossibility of securing among the natives the necessary 
laborers. The most of the people out of the towns live in rudely 
constructed houses, unfurnished with the usual comforts of life, and 
but a few degrees above the huts upon the shores of their native 
Africa. The soil is so exceedingly productive, and there is so much 
that grows spontaneously, that very little labor indeed is necessary 
to secure the food necessary to sustain life ; and the climate is such 
that, if so disposed, they need spend very little for clothing. Being 
thus under no compulsory necessity to labor, industry is the ex- 
ception, indolence and idleness the rule. 

They generally inclose around or near their dwellings a small 
patch of ground, which is cultivated mostly by the females, and 
where, with very little labor, they raise coffee, bananas, corn, and 
other vegetables for their own consumption, and a small surplus for 
sale, from the proceeds of which they procure their clothing and 
such other articles of convenience as they are able or disposed to 
purchase. I should judge that far the largest part of all the coffee 
that is exported from the island is raised in these small quantities, 



542 the world's crisis. 

and brought to market in small lots upon the backs of mules. The 
logwood, mahcgany, and other exports are mostly procured in small 
quantities in much the same way, — the men of course doing most 
of this heavy labor. 

Bountiful as are the provisions for supplying the wants of man 
here, there is, incredible as it may seem, a vast deal of suffering for 
-want of the very necessaries of life. Multitudes are so thriftless and 
improvident that they will not make any provision for the future — 
they will not even gather those productions that are everywhere so 
bountifully spread around them. I have rode through wild unculti- 
vated woods, and seen on every hand groves of orange trees groaning 
under their delicious golden loads, as I have seen the orchards of 
western New York w r eighed down with their heavy burdens. A 
little farther on, I have come upon thickets of coffee bushes matted 
over with their rich purple berries. Besides these, tobacco, ginger, 
and other valuable products grow wild in the same profusion over 
these mountains, and year after year there waste away, and perish 
like the rank grass of our own prairies." 

The facts in our own Northern states afford additional evidence 
of the disinclination of the black population in a state of freedom 
to a life of industry. In New England, idleness and vice are rapidly 
diminishing their numbers. Throughout the North, they huddle 
together in cities, obtaining a precarious subsistence by such chance 
snatches of labor as may offer. In the Western states, their villages 
are nuisances, from their idleness, and their propensity to pilfer from 
the neighboring farmers. As a rule, land is worth one hundred per 
cent, less in the vicinity of a negro village, than in sections remote 
from their depredations. 

But, in none of these instances, has a fair trial been made of the 
capacity of the colored race for persistent labor, under favorable 
circumstances. In Jamaica, the perpetual interference of the 
British Parliament prevented the government of the island from 
adopting salutary measures for the promotion of industry; in the 
South American states, industry had never been sufficiently advanced 
and organized, nor had the white population the necessary energy, 
to influence the blacks to labor : the external influence necessary to 
overcome the constitutional tendency of the race to idleness, was 
wanting. Nor did our Northern states present more favorable con- 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 543 

ditions for fostering the colored race into steady industry : the 
climate was unfavorable to the negro constitution; the labor did not 
suit his gregarious habits ; and he was brought into competition with 
an abundant supply of white labor, which, from its superiority, was 
generally preferred. 

The Southern states presented more favorable conditions for the 
development of the industry of the colored race in a state of free- 
dom, than had ever been present elsewhere : the climate suited their 
constitutions ; the productions are adapted to their gregarious 
habits ; and the superiority of the negro over the white laborer, in 
the South, is as marked as the superiority of the white over the 
negro, in the North. Besides this, all the external conditions nec- 
essary to develop the industry of the black race, are present : their 
labor is a necessity to maintain the prosperity of the country ; and 
an energetic white population is prepared to offer every stimulant, 
to encourage steady labor. Under judicious regulations, there is no 
reason to doubt that the free-black labor of the South would be 
almost as efficient as slave labor, previous to emancipation. 

But the Radicals have done everything in their power to counter- 
act efforts to promote the industry of the black population, and to 
disorganize them. From the beginning, persistent interference 
between the blacks and their employers has been kept up. Idleness 
and vagrancy have been encouraged: the intermeddling of Freed- 
men's Bureau officials has inflicted endless annoyance upon the em- 
ployer, and has divested him of that influence with his employes 
which is essential to the maintenance of steady industry: transpor- 
tation is furnished the colored population at the cost of government, 
whenever they become restless and wish to change their locality: 
proper state laws for the repression of vagrancy, and the encour- 
agement of labor, are prevented by federal interference ; and are 
forever precluded, by investing the blacks with the franchise, and 
making them the controlling power in the states : homesteads have 
been bestowed upon them, where they may subsist in idleness : Rad- 
ical agents have been assiduously fomenting discord, and inspiring 
them with discontent: their minds are kept in a state of feverish ex- 
citement by political agitation ; and a general indisposition to labor 



544 

is induced by the expectation of a general confiscation for their 
benefit. 

Can we wonder that the simple-minded negroes of the Southern 
states should yield to these seductions, and tread in the footsteps of 
those of their race who have been emancipated elsewhere ? The only 
cause for wonder is that, under the circumstances, they have labored 
at all. They have done better than could have been expected ; but 
enough has already been seen of the effects of Radical intervention, 
to show that a continuance of the system will result in the utter de- 
moralization of Southern labor. Complaints are general throughout 
the Cotton states, of the inefficiency of negro labor. Chapters 
might be filled with quotations from the published lamentations of 
planters, whose hopes of a profitable crop have been blighted by the 
indolence of their black employes. Two, and sometimes three 
negroes are frequently found, doing the amount of labor one would 
accomplish before the war. Energetic Northerners have rented 
plantations to be cultivated by freedmen, and almost all have lost 
money by the operation, through the inefficiency of their labor. 
The space cultivated in cotton has vastly diminished : in Mississippi, 
the land cultivated in cotton last year was only one-third as ex- 
tensive as in 1860 : with all the energy that could be exercised, the 
last year's cotton crop was only about one-fourth of that raised seven 
years ago. 

The negroes are congregated in towns, living in idleness, and sub- 
sisting by pilfering. A growing disinclination is manifesting itself 
to make engagements for regular labor ; the blacks preferring to 
work by the day, or month. Many plantations are standing idle for 
want of laborers. Planters are growing discouraged. The natural 
indolence of the negro character, seconded by the ill-judged policy 
of the government, is manifesting itself; and year by year, they 
grow more idle, and more unreliable. 

The correspondent of the Cincinnati Commercial, writing from 
Alabama, himself a Radical, and not disposed to over-color the dark 
tints of the picture, speaks in the following pointed terms of the 
condition of negro industry under Radical influence. He says : — 

" The labor question is a perplexing topic for the South, and must 
so remain for some time to come. The planters complain that, under 



THE EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR. 545 

existing circumstances, the blacks will not work so that any profit 
can be made out of land. They have become ' demoralized ' with 
politics and confiscation, and are bent on doing the least possible 
amount of labor, for the largest possible amount of wages, believing 
that there is a good time coming for them, when, under the benign 
influence of Thad. Stevens' bill, they shall cease to be hewers of 
wood and drawers of water, and may sit out the hot afternoon under 
the quiet shadows of their own vines and fig trees, none daring to 
molest them, or make them afraid." In another letter, the same 
correspondent writes : " The tendency of negroes to congregate in 
cities and towns, instead of remaining in the country districts where 
their labor is needed, is a subject of complaint, for which some rem- 
edy ought to be found. They come in flocks to a city like Mont- 
gomery, and lounge about the street corners, doing nothing, and 
unwilling to do anything, while they can live by contributions from 
the Freedmen's Bureau obtained through false statements, or by 
pilfering and stealing. You will see them in gangs, " standing 
round " in every city of the South. They do n't work ; and, as it is 
presumable that they have not inherited any rich legacies, the ques- 
tion is, How do they live? The only solution I can find for the 
problem, is to be drawn from the number of petty thefts reputed as 
occurring in the South, just now." 

A continuance of the policy hitherto pursued, will, in a few years, 
convert the entire negro population of the South into a mass of pil- 
fering idlers, preying upon the* industrious portion of community. 

What is to be done ? 

It is alike essential to the well-being of the negro, and the pros- 
perity of the country, that the black race in the South should be 
steadily engaged in productive industry. 

* These anticipations, written last Spring, are already realized. The worth- 
lessness of negro labor, and the excessive cost of production, have rendered the 
cotton culture unprofitable. The planters, ruined by their past experiments, can 
no longer plant cotton, or make engagements with the blacks; — and the South- 
ern States are filled with plantations going to waste, and negroes — in a state of 
destitution — plundering granaries, and killing the cattle, and even the mules of 
the planters, for food. A few years' continuance of the existing state of things 
will convert the South into a wilderness like St. Domingo. 

35 



546 

Place the negro upon isolated homesteads, and he will vegetate in 
idleness, and relapse into barbarism. Suffer them to congregate 
around the cities, and vice and poverty will soon cause their extinc- 
tion. Such is now their tendency. The natural increase of the 
race has almost entirely ceased, and, every year, vice and disease 
and want are rapidly diminishing their numbers. They are, every- 
where, rapidly decreasing. Another generation, unless they return 
to habits of regular industry, will witness their almost entire ex- 
tinction. 

The public interest, also, demands that the negro population of the 
South be engaged in regular productive labor. It is absolutely 
essential to our prosperity, that they become reliable laborers, upon 
whose steady industry capitalists may rely so implicitly, as to invest 
money largely in the growth and manufacture of cotton. The in- 
troduction of coolie laborers would be our only alternative. But 
this will be too slow to save the country from the ruin now impend- 
ing. Nothing can save us, but the steady, persevering industry of 
the negro population. 

The writer is very far from advocating the re-establishment of a 
system of servitude, in name, or in fact. Nor is this necessary to 
the solution of the problem before us. It is not doubted that the 
negro will labor, as a freedman. But the Radical policy must be 
reversed. The negro must be left, like other laborers, to the opera- 
tion of ordinary laws, and the general regulations of industry. Let 
this be done, — let the patronage of the Federal government be with- 
drawn — and the atmosphere of energy that pervades our country 
will envelop the negro race, and impel them on in a course of dili- 
gent industry. The normal laws of industry, in their unimpeded 
operation, will secure the highest efficiency for black labor, while 
they will secure the rights of the freedmen, and further their ad- 
vance in civilization. Under their influence, the negro labor of the 
South will become so perfectly reliable, that both cotton growing 
and cotton manufacturing will be regarded by capitalists as perfectly 
safe branches of enterprise. 

Protection is bad policy — both for negroes, and manufacturers. 
As the attempted protection of the one by the Federal government, 
in the last generation, wrought its ruin, so will the protection of the 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 547 

government", if continued, work the ruin of the other, now. Leave 
the negro to the operation of the laws of industry, and they will 
secure his well-being ; pamper him with government patronage, and 
extinction, brought about by indolent, vicious habits, at no distant 
day, awaits him. 



CHAPTER II. 

MEASUEES NECESSARY TO MAKE THE GROWTH AND MANU- 
FACTURE OF COTTON PROFITABLE. 

There are but two ways of making a business profitable : increas- 
ing the price of commodities ; or, diminishing the cost of production. 

In this instance, we cannot increase the price of raw cotton, or of 
manufactured goods ; for that will be fixed by the competition of 
Great Britain. Those branches of business must be made profitable 
within the limits fixed by British prices. Since we cannot increase 
the price of these products of our industry beyond the British 
standard, we must lower the cost of production. The Southern 
planter must be enabled to grow cotton cheaper than foreign fields 
can furnish the article to British mills ; and the American manu- 
facturer must be enabled to manufacture cottons cheaper than they 
can be produced by British factories. These are the conditions of 
our success. 

Sect. 1. — The First Essential to Cheap Manufactures, the 
Location of our Cotton Factories in the West. 

The advantages of the West over New England as the seat of 
manufacturing industry have already been enlarged upon. From 
careful estimates, it appears that, in the cheapness of raw material 
and provisions for operatives, etc., the West has over New England, 
an advantage of 20 per cent, in the cost of manufacturing. 

The establishment of manufactures in the West might be greatly 



548 the world's crisis. 

promoted by the grant of aid by the State* governments to manu- 
facturing companies within their borders. States now aid railroads, 
which are designed to transport State products, and thus give a 
market, abroad, to agriculture. On the same principle, aid might, 
with even greater propriety, be extended to manufactures designed 
to give a home market to agriculture. — Perhaps State aid may be 
necessary : for capital has accumulated in the East, and in the hands 
of Western merchants interested in the Eastern traffic ; and both 
these classes may be reluctant to loan capital, to establish an enter- 
prise which, however advantageous to the country, endangers " the 
craft by which they have their wealth." The Western farmers are 
especially interested in Western manufactures, and they should con- 
trol the State governments, and cause them to aid enterprises so 
advantageous to every Western interest. 

The establishment of manufactures in the West is essential, even 
to a partial resumption of our prosperity. Our abnormal system 
of industry, which occupies the West in the production of supplies 
for the other sections, can no longer maintain the prosperity of the 
country. The populations of the cities engaged in the transporta- 
tion of supplies are depressing productive industry, by the charges 
they levy upon it. These populations must be employed in manu- 
factures, before we can have any steady prosperity. The reader is 
referred to preceding pages of this work, in which this point has 
already been elaborated. 

The establishment of manufactures in the West, however, must 
be left to individual sagacity and enterprise, and the fostering pat- 
ronage, if necessary, of the State governments. It is unnecessary 
to enlarge upon it further in this connection. We pass to the consid- 
eration of the governmental measures necessary, to render these 

* As a general principle, the extension of State aid to any branch of industry 
may be objected to, as tending to communism. But that tendency is not more 
apparent in the measure proposed, than in granting aid to railroads. The same 
principle obtains in both cases. Moreover, it must be remembered that the ex- 
isting situation warrants the adoption even of unusual measures by the govern- 
ments of the States. If a departure from a general policy is ever made, it should 
be in the circumstances which now environ us, when every thing is at stake. 



RUINOUS POLICY OF THE RADICALS. 549 

branches of productive industry profitable, at prices fixed by British 
competition. 

Sect. 2. — Reduction of the Entire Rate of Prices prevailing 

in the Country, the Prime Essential to Cheap Production. 

The necessity of a reduction of our present scale of prices, in 
order to manufacturing success, is evident upon the most cursory 
reflection. The operatives on cotton plantations cannot work at 
reasonable wages, while all the necessaries of life are at exorbitant 
prices : the cotton planter who pays exorbitant prices for all articles 
ot necessary consumption, and exorbitant wages for labor, besides 
his personal taxes to government, cannot sell cotton cheap. The 
manufacturer must charge exorbitantly for his goods, when, besides 
his taxes, he pays high prices for cotton, for labor, for the necessa- 
ries of life, for investments. So if the farmer, and all other branches 
of industry engaged in furnishing supplies of every kind to the 
planting interest, and the population engaged in mechanical produc- 
tion ; — all must have high prices for their products, while the general 
scale of prices remains at an exaggerated standard. 

Prices must fall. 

The only method of accomplishing this, is the removal of the 
causes which have induced the rise of prices. While they remain, no 
general reduction can occur. These causes, as we have seen, are : — 
I. The excessive Tariff; 

II. The ill- adjusted System of Taxation, which bears almost ex- 
clusively upon Productive Industry ; 

III. The inflated and depreciated Currency. 

The manner in which these causes produce an inflation of prices 
has already been traced in detail. They must be removed by an 
entire change of the financial system of the government, before our 
Productive Industry can flourish in the congenial atmosphere of low 
prices. 

It is necessary 
I. To Remodel our Tariff, and Change altogether our System of Protection. 

Two objections will be urged against the abandonment of our 
tariff system : that it is necessary, as a means of protection ; and as 
a source of revenue. 



550 the world's crisis. 

1. It will be maintained that a high tariff on imports is necessary 
to protect our home manufactures. — To this we answer, that our 
exorbitant tariff neither does, nor can afford such protection as will 
enable us to compete with Great Britain, even in our own markets. 
It is possible to protect a single branch of industry; because the 
exorbitant price of one article does not raise the general scale of 
prices, and enhance the cost of production. But when we aim to 
protect many interests, by a general tariff, the effect is to raise the 
general standard of prices to the same level, and enhance the cost 
of production to the full extent of the protection afforded by the 
tariff. This result can be prevented, only by the oppression of ex- 
tensive branches of industry, and the great mass of laboring popu- 
lation. A general tariff on importations is either nugatory, or 
grossly oppressive. 

It is admitted that our industry will, at first, need protection 
against the hostile competition of Great Britain. But this protec- 
tion, a general tariff cannot afford. It exerts its influence in a 
wrong direction, and can never foster home industry into vigorous 
development. It is the expedient of a country confessedly inferior 
in natural advantages, and hopeless of ever achieving eminent suc- 
cess, to protect itself in its own markets against the superior advan- 
tages of foreign countries. A country whose natural advantages 
entitle it to aspire to industrial and commercial pre-eminence, should 
make it the aim of its policy, not to protect its industry by an en- 
hancement of price, but to diminish as far as possible the cost of 
production. Provisions, and raw material, and labor, should be 
cheap. To this end, the farmer, the merchant, the laboring popula- 
tion, ought to be suffered to obtain their purchases at the lowest 
price, that all may do their office at the most reasonable scale of 
profits. 

A tariff for revenue might properly be laid on wines, broadcloths, 
and other articles of luxurious consumption ; but all articles con- 
sumed by the great mass of population ought, under the limitations 
hereafter mentioned, to be free of duty. 

2. But again it will be urged that the Tariff is necessary to main- 
tain the credit of the government, — that the customs, paid in gold, 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 551 

are the only resource for meeting the interest on the public 
debt. 

If the gold must be raised to pay the interest on the public debt, 
let it be raised by any other tax than the tariff. No tax falls so 
heavily upon productive industry as a tariff. Taxes can be so ad- 
justed as not to inflate the rate of prices at all. But a tariff reacts 
directly upon prices, and is utterly incompatible with the low prices 
and cheap production which it is essential for us to attain. That 
the government needs revenue is no argument in favor of a tariff: 
let the revenue be raised by a different method of taxation. 

And this brings us to our next point : — 

II. The Public Bevenue should be Raised chiefly by a Property Tax. 

Property of every kind should be subject to taxation, — real estate, 
personal property, money, notes, and bonds. If a general property 
tax would not reach bonds, and money, and accumulated personal 
property, owing to the method in which the Constitution requires it 
to be levied, a special tax might be imposed on such assets, so as to 
make them bear an equal share of the public burdens. 

1st. Justice of a Property Tax. 

1. The justice of taxing wealth, not poverty, is evident. 

Some hold that, as the poor man is protected by the Common- 
wealth in all his rights, he ought to pay something for the support 
of government. But the poor man makes a full return to the com- 
monwealth for all the protection he receives, without paying any 
tax. He is protected in his rights of person ; and he makes a re- 
turn, in kind, in full equivalent of this protection. His personal 
service, in giving his labor for the promotion of the common weal, 
is full indemnity for the protection of his personal rights. The life 
and liberty which the public laws protect, are consecrated in toil, to 
the promotion of the general prosperity. The poor man's labor is 
an ample return for all the protection he derives from the govern- 
ment. He pays in kind. Let the rich man also pay in kind. As 
he is protected in his property, let him return in property, — i. e. in 
taxes, — the equivalent of his protection ; and let him pay in propor- 
tion to the amount of property the laws protect. 



552 the world's crisis. 

The taxes of the poor man are an injustice, either to him, or to 
his employer. The wages of the laborer are never more than ade- 
quate to a comfortable subsistence. If he is compelled to pay taxes, 
he must either deduct the sum from his scanty means of subsistence, 
or he must exact the amount from his employer, in an increase of 
wages. In the one case, taxation reduces the poor man to a state 
of destitution : in the other, it is not really levied upon the laborer, 
but upon his employer ; and the business class are compelled to 
pay, not only their own taxes, but the taxes of the laboring popu- 
lation, also. 

The doctrine that poverty, not wealth, should bear the public bur- 
dens, belongs to the age of noble aristocracy which is now passing 
away. While the landed nobility were a privileged class, they 
claimed exemption from taxation, imposing it entirely upon the 
great mass of industrious population. This caused the French 
Revolution ; and similar oppression in England, will, if not amended, 
cause a revolution there. The principles of our Declaration of In- 
dependence sapped the foundation of the system of taxation which 
levies the greater part of the public revenues upon the laboring pop- 
ulation. When equality of rights is recognized, a system of taxation 
which makes the poor poorer by taxation, and the rich richer by 
exemption, cannot prevail. The converse of this proposition is also 
true, — that where such a system of taxation prevails, the principles 
of equality cannot long continue to exist. Taxation must either be 
conformed to the principles of democratic government, or it will 
soon sink the mass of population into wretchedness, and create a 
privileged aristocracy, who rule the government by the bayonet. This 
tendency is already strongly apparent in our government ; and, un- 
less it is arrested, we shall have a Centralization, resting upon the 
support of an Aristocracy, exempting them from the public burdens, 
and ruling the country with the sword. 

2. The justice of taxing wealth, not business, is equally apparent. 
An individual ought to be taxed, not in proportion to his annual 
profits, but in proportion to his wealth. As a rule, every man ought 
to pay for the support of government, in proportion to the amount 
of property the government protects. It is not right that the man 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 553 

of energy should be disproportionately burdened, while the man of 
indolent leisure is almost exempted from taxation. 

In certain cases it might be necessary, in adjusting the basis of 
taxation, to take into consideration the productiveness of property, 
as well as its selling value. This discrimination might be proper in 
the case of widows, minors, and some other classes. But, as a gen- 
eral rule, property ought to be taxed in proportion to its market 
value. — If it be objected that this will bear hardly upon the holders 
of town lots, and wild lands, we answer : Let them, then, render 
their property productive, or sell it to those who will : they are hold- 
ing property on speculation, with a view to future enhancement : it 
represents capital, and should be taxed as capital ; it is an invest- 
ment w 7 ith a view to profit, equally with the investment of the mer- 
chant in goods, or the farmer in lands, and as an investment it should 
be taxed. The monopoly of city lots and wild lands on speculation, 
is a disadvantage to the country, and if an individual chooses to 
make such an investment of his means, with an eye to personal ad- 
vantage, he should be willing to pay for the privilege. The com- 
monwealth, at least, should never encourage such speculators, by 
discriminating in their favor against the business community, and 
exempting their speculative investments from taxation. 

Our present system, w T hich taxes industry and incomes, is utterly 
unjust. The speculator worth a million of dollars invested in fine 
lands, which he is withholding from market in the expectation of 
becoming a landed magnate at a future day, may pay no more 
taxes than the clerk whose industry is his only capital. Labor and 
productive industry are unduly taxed, for the benefit of a class which 
is aiming to become the Aristocracy of the republic at a future day, 
and which is now doing nothing for the public advantage, but is, on 
the contrary, an incubus upori the general prosperity. 

2d. Expediency of a Property Tax. 
The expediency of a Property Tax is as apparent as its justice. 

1. It weighs more lightly upon every class of community than any 
other tax ; and, indeed, after the first few years, it will not be felt as 
a burden, at all. 



554 THE world's crisis. 

A property tax will, in effect, set apart a certain proportion of the 
wealth of the country for the support of the government. A person 
who buys property thereafter, will buy it subject to an annual charge 
by the government; and a percentage proportional to that charge 
will be deducted from the price. Consequently, the person who 
thereafter buys property will not feel the tax at all ; the diminished 
cost of the property being equivalent to the tax. It will operate 
like the tything system in England; where land is sold subject to 
tythes, and the equivalent of the tythes is deducted from its value. 

When this effect of a property tax shall once be effected, it will 
no longer operate as a burden upon the holders of real estate. 

It may be objected that a tax upon money would increase the rate 
of interest, and thus cause the oppression of the business public. 
But an income tax is open to the same objection ; as, indeed, is every 
mode of taxation. But, in point of fact, taxation has little effect 
upon the rate of interest. Money-lenders always charge, whether 
they are taxed or not, as high a rate of interest or discount, as the 
condition of business will allow them to exact. It might be well to 
encourage the loaning of money by chartered institutions having a 
fixed and moderate rate of discount, by discriminating in their favor, 
and exempting them from taxation. — But the only efficient means of 
promoting a low rate of interest is to promote a regular course of 
business, at moderate charges. We must promote a moderate scale 
of prices and profits, — which the measure now suggested will ac- 
complish ; and then, the rate of interest will be conformed to the 
general standard of business profits. 

The influence of a property tax in promoting a moderate scale of 
prices is its chief advantage. Instead of injuring the branches of 
productive industry we wish to promote, as other systems of taxation 
do, it will farther their growth.^Two things are requisite to our in- 
dustrial success : to lower the standard of prices ; and to embark the 
capital of the country in productive industry. A property tax will 
exercise an important influence in promoting both these objects : 

2. A Property Tax will exercise an important Influence in lowering 
the Scale of Prices. 

Two causes lie at the foundation of every inflation of prices : in- 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 555 

creased charges on business; and an emulous desire to enlarge 
profits. 

A system of taxation which excuses Property, and levies heavy 
taxes on Business, tends to increase the force of both these causes. 
But a Property Tax tends to counteract both these causes of en- 
hancement, and exerts a potent influence in keeping prices at the 
moderate standard, so promotive of business prosperity. 

(1.) It relieves Business from the Charges incident to direct taxation 
upon it. 

Taxes levied on business raise the price of labor and raw material, 
and increase the cost of all the necessaries of life; and they necessi- 
tate an advance of prices, to meet the increased outlay. 

At present, the Business of the country pays the taxes, almost 
exclusively. Two billions of bonds, and over twenty (at present in- 
flated prices, nearly forty) billions of property, are exempt. Of 
course, the taxes of the business community would be lightened, if 
the great mass of property now exempt, were made to share the 
burden. 

But to come to a more circumstantial estimate : The property of 
the country was returned, in the census of 1860, at sixteen ($16,- 
000,000,000) billions. At the present inflation of prices, after 
making proper allowance for the wasting of the South by war, the 
property of the country, including the public debt, is worth perhaps 
nearly forty ($40,000,000,000) billions.— The Secretary of the 
Treasury estimates the revenue for the fiscal year, ending June 
1868, at $436,000,000. This amount, assessed upon the property 
of the country, at present values, would only require a tax of a little 
over one per cent. A business man having $40,000 invested in his 
business, would pay a tax of $436, and would then be done with it. — 
But under the present system, his taxes are more than double that 
amount. If he makes a profit of twenty per cent, upon the capital 
invested, his income tax, alone, is $400; and his license, stamp, and 
direct taxes, will average perhaps twice as much more. This is, 
perhaps, about the average ratio of the burden of the two modes of 
taxation; — except as respects the tariff, and excises upon liquors; 
in which instances, the tax exceeds the amount of capital invested in 



556 

the business— the excise tax being even tenfold greater than the 
capital invested. On the whole, our present system of taxation im- 
poses upon business at least threefold greater burdens, than a prop- 
erty tax would exact. 

If prices were reduced to a normal standard, the disproportion 
would be vastly increased. A property tax would carry on the 
government, even when prices came down to the normal standard, 
without imposing any injurious burden upon any interest. Making 
allowance for the falling off of Southern prosperity, the property 
of the. country, inclusive of the public debt, is worth, at ordinary 
prices, about twenty-four ($24,000,000,000) billions. For an eco- 
nomical administration of the government, a revenue of $250,000,- 
000, would be amply sufficient : this would require a tax of but a 
fraction over one per cent., — a levy that would not at all disturb the 
equilibrium of prices. 

But our present system of taxation would not raise that amount of 
revenue, without an inevitable inflation of prices much above the 
normal standard. Indeed, this system is inconsistent with a normal 
state of prices. It necessitates an inflation of prices, as the only 
means of enabling the public to meet the excessive exactions upon 
business. And when a crisis comes (as it must come, sooner or 
later), that will cause prices to tumble, it will fail to raise the neces- 
sary revenues ; the people will be unable to endure its excessive 
exactions ; and it must either be abandoned, or bankruptcy and re- 
pudiation will ensue. 

The worst effect of the present system of taxation is its reac- 
tionary influence upon the standard of prices. It is levied in such 
a manner, as to react immediately upon business prices ; it thus 
levies upon the people charges tenfold greater than the amount of 
taxes paid to government. 

The importing merchant worth $100,000, invested in his business, 
makes probably a gross annual profit of twenty per cent, upon his 
capital. Out of this, he would not feel the $1,000 of property tax 
levied by the government. He would account it a tax upon his 
wealth, and submit to the diminution of his income to that extent, 
without levying the tax upon the price of his goods. But when the 
government assesses over $100,000 of customs upon his annual im- 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 557 

portations, and $1,000 income tax upon his profits, besides his 
stamp and license taxes, — these taxes are levied upon his business, 
and he is under the necessity of adding them to the price of his 
goods. Again : The brewer or distiller worth $10,000, would not 
miss out of his profits $100 of property tax ; but when the excise 
tax upon his liquors amounts to $100,000, he must add it to the 
price of his stock. The farmer worth $20,000, would easily bear 
his $200 of property tax; but now, when, besides his income tax, 
he pays for every thing prices enhanced by taxation, he must lay 
these increased charges upon his produce. A property tax would 
not touch the laborer ; but when every article of consumption is 
enhanced by taxation, he must have an increase of wages for sub- 
sistence. — And so the ball rolls on, imposing heavy burdens upon 
every business, and necessarily increasing the general scale of 
prices. 

Our system of taxation taxes the business community far beyond 
their ability to bear, and compels them to distribute the burden 
among their customers: a property tax distributes the burden to 
each according to his ability. Our present system of taxation con- 
centrates taxes upon business only, leaving the great mass of prop- 
erty exempt : a property tax widens the basis of taxation, making 
it lighter upon each individual. Then, no one is unduly taxed ; no 
one is oppressed; each person bears a proportion of the general 
burden allotted according to his ability, and, instead of trying to 
shift it to some one else, he charges it to profit and loss, as so much 
lost from his income, to be met by the exercise of economy. 

A property tax never enters into business prices : it merely pro- 
motes economy. It does not lay its heaviest burden upon active, 
struggling business men. These bear the light weight imposed upon 
them, with ease. The property class, who pay the heaviest tax in 
proportion to income, are so situated that it is impossible for them 
to set the example of charging heavier prices. They are removed 
from the business of the country, living upon fixed incomes, ample 
for their support and the payment of taxes. Taxation will compel 
them to economize ; but the law of supply and demand prevents 
them from levying their taxes upon others, by raising the dues from 
which they derive their incomes. 



558 

Thus far, the effect of the Property Tax is wholly negative. It 
has only been said that it does not enhance prices ; that it levies 
upon the business community a much lighter tax than our present 
system ; and that it exerts no reactionary influence in enhanced 
wages and prices. — But it exerts a positive influence in lowering 
prices. 

(2.) A Property Tax Tends to Lower the Scale of Prices — by 
diminishing the percentage of Profits. 

Two things stimulate the desire to enlarge the per centage of 
business profits : the high price of investments ; and the wish to 
equalize the profits of business with the returns of speculation. — 
Business men measure their profits by their property value. They 
wish to invest them in real estate ; in building houses ; in establish- 
ing manufactures ; or in extending their business. When invest- 
ments are dear, they graduate their profits by the same scale. — So 
also, when speculation is rife, and yielding immense returns, they 
aim to raise their scale of prices, so as to equalize their profits with 
the returns of speculation. 

The system of taxation which excuses property, and burdens in- 
dustry, greatly stimulates this desire to enlarge profits. It dimin- 
ishes the value of the profits ; enhancing the price of real estate, 
and increasing the cost of all investments : it stimulates speculation 
in property ; making it sought after and increasing its enhancement, 
through its exemption from taxes, — But a Property Tax diminishes 
the force of both these causes of inflated profits : it prevents the 
inflation of property values ; and it discourages speculation in real 
estate. When there is no excited speculation, and investments can 
be had at reasonable rates, business men will be moderate in their 
scale of profits ; for competition always reduces profits to the lowest 
rate the expenses of business, the cost of living, and the price of 
investments, will justify. 

But, as the influence of a Property Tax in discouraging specula- 
tion and cheapening investments will be noticed at greater length in 
the next point, it is unnecessary to dwell further upon it, in this con- 
nection. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 559 

3. A Property Tax will cause Capital to be Embarked in Produc- 
tive Industry. 

It is always the tendency of taxation to lower in value the object 
on which it is laid, and to enhance that which is exempt. A tax 
upon business is a tax upon energy, placing it at a discount, and 
offering a premium to idleness. Its tendency is to withdraw capital 
from business, to be invested in exempted property ; — while a prop- 
erty tax encourages industry, by directing capital to it, and com- 
pelling men of property to employ their wealth in some remunerative 
occupation. 

There are, at present, millions of dollars invested in wild lands 
and city lots, by persons who are doing nothing to promote the 
public welfare. They are withholding their investments from mar- 
ket, upon speculation, in the expectation that the industry and en- 
terprise of others will make their property valuable, at a future 
day. They are laying the foundation of future wealth, expecting to 
become princely landowners, and city millionaires. 

This class of speculators in real estate, confer no benefit upon the 
country with their wealth. On the contrary, they inflict upon in- 
dustry positive injury. They are an incubus upon the common 
weal. Their wealth, as by an algebraic process, is transferred to 
the minus column of the balance sheet, and is so much to be sub- 
tracted from the sum total of our prosperity. They keep eligible 
city lots vacant, or covered with miserable tenements, abodes of vice 
and squalor. They monopolize the best lands, along railroads, and 
adjacent to markets, which they withhold from sale and from culture, 
waiting for additional enhancement, by the labor of others. Millions 
of acres of fine lands suited to the growth of our staples are with- 
held from culture, that their owners may, at a future day, become 
landed magnates, living like the English nobility, and the New York 
landed aristocrats, upon the rents of their estates. Already, the 
great timber forests are all monopolized, and in coming time, our 
builders must pay a tax to these monopolists, who are getting into 
their own hands the lumber interests of the country. These specu- 
lators are an injury to productive industry, now, by withholding 
their property from profitable use : they will, in future, injure indus- 
try still more, by levying, in their monopoly, and their rents, a most 



560 the world's crisis. 

oppressive tax upon industry ; thus enhancing the general scale of 
prices, for their benefit, at the expense of the rest of community, 
and to the injury of the national prosperity. 

A system of taxation which levies the public revenues upon in- 
dustry, offers a premium to this speculation in real estate. It 
encourages the withdrawal of capital from productive enterprise, to 
be sunk in this kind of property. The iron merchant, the master 
mechanic, the manufacturer, instead of investing their profits in 
increasing their business, are encouraged to place them on a specu- 
lation in untaxed and unproductive property. We can never have 
any industrial prosperity, while this tendency continues. Our in- 
dustry will not grow, but the mania for speculative investments will 
ingulf all the profits of the country. There has always been too 
much disposition among us to invest capital in real estate specula- 
tion, instead of active productive business ; and it is one of the chief 
reasons why our productive industry has not advanced in ratio with 
the increase of wealth and population. If our national debt is made 
to increase this mania for speculation, by the mode in which the 
government levies taxation, it will inflict upon us the most serious 
injury. 

But it will go far toward lessening the evil of the debt, if taxation 
is so levied as to counteract this speculative disposition, and direct 
capital into productive industry. This a property tax will do. It 
will prevent business men from purchasing property beyond their 
own needs, and cause them to use their profits in extending their 
business. And it will compel these speculators in real estate, either 
to bring their property into productive use, or to sell it to those who 
will, and invest the proceeds in active business. 

A Property Tax will do more to give business a healthy tone 
than any measure that could be devised. The light burden it 
imposes would not oppress industry : its conservative influence 
would give it a vigor never known before. Speculation and ex- 
orbitant prices are the weeds — the rank growth of an exuberant 
soil — which have, throughout our career, overgrown our indus- 
try, stunting its growth, and withdrawing from it the capital and 
enterprise of the country. A Property Tax will uproot these 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTUBJB OF COTTON. 561 

weeds ; it will place a check upon the erratic tendency which has 
always marred our business prosperity ; it will turn Capital away 
from unproductive speculative investments, and turn it in a full tide 
into the channel of Productive Industry. A Property Tax will set 
the owner of vacant city lots, or tumble-down houses, to building, 
and thus lower rents, and give employment to those extensive 
branches of industry interested in building enterprise. A Property 
Tax will force the speculator in lands which he cannot sell, to sub- 
ject them to culture, increasing our products, and aifording active 
employment to thousands of agricultural laborers. A Property Tax 
will stimulate the indolent, give employment to the needy, and foster 
all our industrial interests into quick and healthy growth. 

The only valid objection that can be urged against a property tax 
lies in the manner in which the Constitution of the United States 
requires it to be adjusted. By constitutional provision, direct taxes 
are to be assessed upon the states, not in proportion to their wealth, 
but in proportion to their representation in Congress. This causes 
a property tax to fall unequally upon the different states. Thus 
Illinois, with less than half the taxable property of Massachusetts, 
would pay 40 per cent, more tax : Pennsylvania, with one-third less 
property, would pay more than double the tax : New Jersey would 
pay more tax, with less than one-fourth the taxable property. 

This objection, however, has no more weight against a property 
tax, than against our present system of taxation. A tax upon con- 
sumption, which is our present system, is really a tax in proportion 
to population, provided the population of the different states were 
equally economical. The states that have the largest population 
now pay the same disproportion of taxes, that the property tax 
would levy upon them. Indeed, Massachusetts gets off, now, with 
a smaller proportion of the public burdens, than she would have to 
bear under a property tax : the tariff is an actual bonus to her man- 
ufacturers ; her people are so economical, that they do not pay an 
equal proportion of the taxes levied upon consumption ; and the 
state, resolved to pay as few taxes as possible, has passed the Maine 
law, to keep her people from paying their proportionate share of the 
tax upon liquors. The property tax, though bearing too lightly 

36 



5G2 

upon Massachusetts, will yet compel her to bear a much larger part 
of the public burdens, than she does, at present. 

But, really, the property tax is much less unequal than it appears 
from the examples cited. Massachusetts is exceptional. With a 
large class of female population, the voting population of the state 
bears no proportion to its wealth. Elsewhere, the ratio of wealth 
and population is much more equal. Besides, the unequal distribu- 
tion of wealth in proportion to population, has sprung from an 
abnormal condition of industry. Under a just administration of the 
government, these inequalities would soon disappear, and the con- 
stitutional distribution of taxation would become substantially equal 
over all the states. 

This inequality, moreover, might be diminished, by making a dis- 
crimination between real estate and personal property. The value 
of real estate bears a nearly equal ratio to population in all the 
states, and a property tax, levied on real estate, would bear very 
equally upon all sections of the country. By levying the property 
tax upon real estate only, and by imposing special taxes upon per- 
sonal property, — mone}^, stocks, bonds, etc., — in the ratio of the 
tax upon real estate, the public burdens would be equalized, while 
the principle of the property tax would be maintained throughout 
our financial system. 



The measures already proposed are not sufficient to promote a 
moderate scale of prices. Manufactures may be established in the 
West; the tariff may be modified; a system of property taxation 
may be adopted; — still, while our currency remains inflated and de- 
preciated, the scale of inflated prices will continue. An inflated 
and depreciated currency will countervail every measure designed 
to promote a return to moderate prices. 

Before our Productive Industry can flourish, our currency must be 
reduced to the normal standard, and become equal to the value of 
gold. But the presentation of this measure, the most important of 
all, requires a separate division. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 563 

III. The Excessive Issues of Paper Money must be withdrawn from cir- 
culation, and a Specie Currency, or its Equivalent, be Established. 

ls^. Necessity of Establishing a Specie Currency. 

The necessity of establishing a Specie Currency, or its Equiv- 
alent, will be apparent upon a brief review of our situation. 

We will be excused for elaborating this part of the subject; for 
nothing but the most imperative necessity could warrant the 
measures, by which, only, in the condition to which Radical legis- 
lation has reduced the country, a return to a specie currency is pos- 
sible. The adoption of the other measures is not difficult; but the 
establishment of a specie currency, in our present circumstances, 
is as difficult as it is important. 

Without this all-important measure, everything else will prove of 
no avail. 

We are in a position, where nothing but the prompt development 
of our Productive Industry will save us from the greatest calamities. 
Our Productive Industry cannot nourish without a decline of prices 
to a normal standard ; and to a decline of prices, the contraction of 
our inflated currency and the establishment of a specie standard, is 
absolutely essential. 

The establishment of a specie currency is the necessary complement 
of the other measures proposed. We can neither modify the Tariff, 
nor establish a property tax, without it. An inflated currency ren- 
ders a high protective tariff necessary. To remodel the Tariff while 
the inflation of the currency still kept up the cost of manufacturing, 
would annihilate our manufacturing industry : and if we maintain 
a high protective tariff and an inflated currency, it is useless to es- 
tablish a property tax, as a means of promoting low prices. The 
three measures must stand or fall together. If we remodel the 
Tariff, and do away with its features of monopoly, we must have a 
property tax and a specie currency, in order to lower prices, and 
cheapen the cost of production; so that our manufactures may be 
able to compete on equal terms with foreign goods, without pro- 
tection. The two systems of financial measures are respectively 
homogeneous: an inflated currency and an injudicious system of 



564 THE WORLD'S CRISIS. 

taxation find their complement in a high tariff; a modified tariff ne- 
cessitates a property tax, and a specie currency. 

A Specie Currency is a sine qua non to the establishment of the 
low prices and cheap production, without which we can have no 
flourishing productive industry. Without it, we may give up the 
hope of flourishing manufactures; of the continued growth of 
cotton; and of the cereal export trade. We may give up the hope 
of prosperity, and make up our minds to sweeping industrial, and 
financial, ruin. The question is, whether we shall have an inflated 
currency, high prices — and ruin; or a specie basis, low prices — and 
unexampled prosperity. 

There are several errors on this subject which require notice. 
It is held that an abundant currency is necessary to our prosperity : 
in that it furnishes needed capital, thereby promoting activity of 
business, and stimulating enterprise ; in that it lowers the value of 
money, and thus benefits the borrowing community at the expense 
of the owners of moneyed capital ; and, in that it enables us to bear 
more easily the burden of the public debt, and pay the onerous 
taxation of government. Let us notice these errors in detail. 

First Error: That an abundant currency is essential to promote 
activity of trade. 

That trade will languish where there is not sufficient capital to 
carry it on, is not questioned. But it is a grave mistake to suppose 
that a redundant currency makes the money market easy, and causes 
business prosperity. It is essential that a country have currency 
enough to carry on its business. All above that amount is a dis- 
advantage, from its inflation of prices. 

We may take the currency of Great Britain, as a fair example of 
the amount of circulating medium necessary to transact the business 
of a country, and promote a healthy activity. The traffic of England 
brings annually into the country more than a hundred million dollars 
of gold, most of which is loaned again to foreign countries. Eng- 
land, therefore, might increase the specie currency of the country 
to any extent that were desirable. The present limitation of the 
amount of currency, is not a matter of necessity, but is the result 
of their having learned from experience that it is amply sufficient 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 565 

for the public needs. Great Britain has only a circulating medium 
of $235,000,000, in specie and paper; and experience proves that 
amount of currency to be sufficient, to carry on her immense manu- 
factures and her world-wide commerce, and to enable the government 
to raise $350,000,000 of annual taxation. Her manufactures and 
commerce are threefold greater than ours ; and an equal amount of 
currency ought to be ample for all the wants of our business. It is 
probable, however, owing to our greater internal traffic, that $300,- 
000,000 of currency would not inflate prices materially. But that 
sum would certainly be ample for all our wants. 

It is a mistake to suppose that our present currency of $800,000,- 
000 makes the money market easier than it would be with a cur- 
rency of $300,000,000. We have more than double the money, it is 
true ; but it has more than doubled prices also : at normal prices, 
$300,000,000 would be as adequate to the business of the country, 
as our present amount of currency is, now. If $100,000,000 will 
do a certain amount of business at normal prices, let prices be 
doubled, and the same amount of business will require $200,000,000 
of currency; if prices are trebled, $300,000,000 will be needed — and 
the money market will be just as stringent, as at first. The money 
market was never so stringent in the South as when $600,000,000 
of depreciated Confederate scrip was afloat. And our money 
market is more stringent now, with $800,000,000 of currency, than 
it was in 1860, when we had only a little over $200,000,000. 

A certain amount of currency is necessary to transact the busi- 
ness of a country. With that amount of currency, the money 
market is as easy, as with double or treble the quantity of circu- 
lating medium. Any increase of the currency above the necessary 
amount, has no effect whatever in making the money market easier ; 
it only operates an increase of prices, and injures, to that extent, 
the business of the country, by increasing the cost of production. 

Second Error: That a redundant currency benefits the borrowing 
community at the expense of the owners of moneyed capital. 

This idea is illustrated by the statement, that a money-lending 
capitalist, who possessed $50,000 when the currency was limited, 
with our present redundant currency, finds his capital equal only to 



566 the world's crisis. 

$20,000 ; and it is claimed that the debtor who owes the money is 
benefited to that extent. It is held that a return to a specie basis 
will benefit the capitalist, and injure the borrowing, or business 
class. 

This, however, is a very imperfect view of the question. If we 
view it properly, it will be evident that a continuance of the inflation 
will operate to the benefit of the class of capitalists, and to the 
injury of the business class. 

It is a fact that, sooner or later, the class of money-lending capi- 
talists acquire the ownership of all the money of a country, just as 
the merchants become the owners of its goods, and the landholders, 
of its soil. The larger the amount of currency, the greater the op- 
portunities of the moneyed capitalists to aggregate money in their 
hands. And the longer the inflation continues, the greater, the more 
complete the centralization of the moneyed capital of the country in 
the hands of money-lenders. The inflation did, in the first instance, 
injure the moneyed class. But it- is now increasing that class in 
numbers and wealth, year by year. And if it continues many years 
longer, the centralization of moneyed wealth in the hands of capitalists 
will have reached a pass, at which a return to a normal currency 
standard will be impossible, without wide-spread ruin. 

It is easy to say that we should keep up the expansion, until per- 
sons in debt can pay off their indebtedness. But in "flush times" 
the indebtedness of a community never is paid off. Some individu- 
als may be liquidating their debts ; but others are contracting new 
obligations. Capitalists never fail of finding borrowers. The will- 
ingness to borrow is always greater than the ability to lend. 

We must return to a specie basis at some time. Inflation cannot 
continue forever. Why then defer it ? The money-lender must at 
last receive gold, or its equivalent, for the sums he loans. It is 
better to close the account promptly, than to wait until, with thrice 
the capital to operate upon, that class shall have been able to mort- 
gage the business of the country tenfold deeper than now. 

A specie basis once established, the condition of the enterprising 
business man will be greatly better than at present. Nearly three 
times the capital is needed, now, to conduct business, that will then 
be necessary. Ten thousand dollars will establish a business, for 



GROWTH AND -MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 567 

which twenty-five thousand is now required. The saving of interest 
will alone amount to a handsome profit. 

The fallacious expectation of benefiting the business community 
and injuring moneyed capitalists, by prolonging the inflation, should 
not be suffered, for a moment, to prevent a return to a specie basis. 

Third Error: That a continuance of the inflation is desirable, 
because it will enable us the better to bear the burden of the public 
debt. 

That the public debt ought to be paid in the currency of the 
country, is unquestionable, whether that currency be specie or 
paper. But the question now before us is, whether it is advisable 
to maintain the inflation of the currency, for the purpose of paying 
off the debt in a depreciated medium. A few facts afford sufficient 
answer. 

The inflation of the currency, through the increase of prices, is 
enhancing the cost of production in every department of industry, 
and is placing us at the greatest disadvantage in competition with 
foreign enterprise. The increased cost of production will require 
immense tariff duties, to protect our manufactures from foreign 
competition. Will paying exorbitant prices for all manufactured 
goods enable us to pay our taxes more easily? — The increased cost 
of production will soon drive our cotton from the foreign market ; 
and it will stop our export of breadstuffs in competition with foreign 
products. Will the loss of our exports enable us the better to bear 
the burden of the national debt? — The falling off of exports will 
require increased shipment of bonds to meet the enlarged bal- 
ance of trade against us. Will the exportation of our debt make 
the burden lighter? — And finally, this inflation of the currency — 
when it shall have shut out all our productions from foreign markets, 
and caused the exportation of all our bonds — will put a stop to im- 
ports, break down our commerce, annihilate our shipping, depopulate 
our seaports, and disorganize our entire system of industry. Then, 
how will we bear the burden of the public debt? It will be in 
foreign hands, and we will be equally unable to pay, or to repudiate. 

The public debt is not all we have to consider. We have great 
industrial interests to promote. We must not sacrifice our industry. 



568 the world's crisis. 

That must be our first consideration. If the inflation of the cur- 
rency were not so ruinous to our productive industry, it would be 
desirable to maintain it, for the purpose of eradicating our debt 
more easily. An inflated currency is good for the Debt, but it is 
bad for Industry. So arsenic is good for a cancer; but a physician 
will not apply it, when it will destroy the patient's life. We ought 
not to employ a nostrum for our Debt which will infallibly destroy 
our Prosperity. 

Let us develop our prosperity, and the debt will be extinguished, 
without especial care. We have a diseased body politic, and an in- 
dolent ulcer. Treat the sore especially, and the diseased body will 
perish : build up the general health, and the ulcer will get well of 
itself. 

Every objection that can be urged against the establishment of a 
specie currency is futile. , 

If we consider its necessity in order to a return to a moderate 
standard of prices, this alone is sufficient to overbear every objec- 
tion. Establish a specie currency in connection with the other 
proposed measures, and, with low prices, we shall have cheap pro- 
duction. Then our cotton industry will flourish ; our agricultural 
products will keep possession of the foreign markets ; and our man- 
ufactures will no longer need the monopoly of exorbitant duties, to 
enable them to maintain themselves against foreign competition. 

But — besides its influence in establishing cheap production, and 
thus developing our productive industry in every department, both 
agricultural, and manufacturing — there are other advantages of a 
specie basis too important to be omitted. 

It will prevent the periodical recurrence of financial panics, which 
are always incident to inflations and contractions of an artificial 
paper medium. A specie currency has no inflations and contrac- 
tions. Prices are fixed; the amount of circulation necessary to 
transact its business is retained in the country by the laws of sup- 
ply and demand; the surplus, only, being exported. Countries 
which maintain a specie currency have no financial panics, no crises 
which unexpectedly ruin thousands. France has a specie currency; 
and during the first sixty years of our century, amid repeated wars 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 569 

and political convulsions, France has not had a single financial 
panic. During the same period, the United States, lapped in peace 
and blessed with unrivaled resources, but cursed with an inflated 
paper currency, has been swept by five great panics, which over- 
turned thousands of fortunes. In England, the currency is composed 
in part of paper money, but it is carefully kept within prescribed 
limits. There is sometimes an excessive exportation of the precious 
metals, incident to speculation, which would, if not checked, lead to 
a general crash. But, on such occasions, the Bank of England ar- 
rests the speculative tendency by contraction — a few firms break — 
and in a few weeks, business has resumed its wonted tone. In 
consequence of this careful regulation, business has a stability in 
England, unknown in this country. Business descends from father 
to son, for generations. But in the United States, under the paper 
system, ninety-seven out of every hundred merchants become bank- 
rupt at least once during their lives, in some of the periods of alter- 
nate speculation and panic incident to inflations and contractions of 
the circulating medium. 

But the establishment of a specie currency is especially essential 
in the crisis of our competition with England. It will require the 
use at home of the specie products of our mines, for several years. — 
Checking the exportation of specie will diminish our importation of 
foreign goods to that amount, and thus afford a much more efficient 
protection to our manufactures than a tariff can do. — Furthermore, 
the cessation of the export of coin will have a most important in- 
fluence upon our competition with England, by depriving our rival 
of the means of stimulating the production of cotton in foreign 
fields. This point will be presented at greater length, in another 
connection. 

In every point of view, the establishment of a specie currency is 
absolutely essential to our successful competition with England. 

2d. Measures Essential to the Estahlishment of a Specie Currency. 

The establishment of a specie currency must, of course, be grad- 
ual, that the business of the country may accommodate itself to the 
new scale of prices, without any revulsion. With judicious man- 



570 the world's crisis. 

agement, it may be effected without any business crisis ; being 
attended only with a gradual and steady decline of prices to the 
normal standard. ; 

There would be no difficulty in effecting a contraction of the cur- 
rency, if this were all we proposed to accomplish. Gradually with- 
draw the " greenbacks " from circulation, and we will have $300,- 
000,000 of National Bank notes. If we are to have a paper cur- 
rency controlled by Banks, nothing further will be necessary. But 
our present banking system, with its reserves of currency and sys- 
tem of double redemption, is a cumbersome arrangement : it is also 
objectionable, from its incidents of breaking banks, attended with 
fluctuations of the currency and of public credit: furthermore, it is 
open to the very serious objection of requiring a bonus from the 
government of $18,000,000 of annual interest upon the bonds which 
secure the bank circulation. The whole arrangement may be very 
much simplified, by withdrawing the present bank notes, and issuing 
to the Banks " greenbacks," instead, which shall be received by the 
Banks in payment of the bonds they have now on deposit with the 
government as security for their present circulation. 

This arrangement will obviate many of the objectionable features 
of the present system : it will liquidate $300,000,000 of the public 
debt, and save the country $18,000,000 of annual interest: it will 
simplify the Banking arrangements, obviating the necessity of their 
keeping a reserve in their vaults : it will give an uniform currency 
secure from fluctuation, based, not on the solvency of an individual 
bank, but upon the credit of the government. 

If we are to have a paper currency, based, not on specie, but on 
government credit only, no better arrangement can be effected. 
And it is possible that this arrangement may be preferred, as it will 
allow us to dispense with a specie currency, and suffer the continued 
exportation of gold in the future, as in the past. 

But the plan is liable to very serious objections. 

(1.) It is unconstitutional, — in continuing the connection of the 
government with banking institutions, which have a monopoly of the 
capital of the country, and are sustained by government patronage. 

(2.) It leaves the currency entirely at the control of the banks, 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 571 

which may at any time contract their issues and cause a stringency 
in the money market, for the purpose of exacting a higher rate of 
interest. 

(3.) It involves necessarily an inflation of the currency. — The 
payment of interest will compel the government to demand the pay- 
ment of a part of the taxes in gold : at least $150,000,000 of specie 
must be held in the country for this purpose ; so that, when the 
bank issues amounted to three hundred millions, the entire circu- 
lating medium would be four hundred and fifty millions, — an infla- 
tion of fifty per cent. 

(4.) It necessarily involves a depreciation of the paper currency. — 
Its inflation alone would cause considerable depreciation; and the 
tendency would be increased by the continual traffic in gold, which 
the specie taxes would involve. Gold dealers would speculate upon 
the public necessity. Tax payers would be under the necessity of 
having gold for taxes, and gold speculators would compel them to 
pay a large premium. This speculation in gold would keep the 
currency depreciated almost to its present standard. 

These objections are fatal to the plan. The inflation and depre- 
ciation of the currency would maintain prices at so high a standard 
as to continue the depression of our industry ; and the fluctuations 
incident to bank contraction and expansion would be ruinous to 
productive enterprise. — The same objections obtain against any cur- 
rency system which involves a mixed paper and specie circulation, 
and which leaves the control of the paper currency to banking cor- 
porations. 

A contraction of the currency is not sufficient. We must have a 
specie currency, or its equivalent. 

Difficulties many, and almost insuperable, environ every currency 
system that can be devised for a country in the financial, and indus- 
trial condition of the United States. The author has given the sub- 
ject the patient and dispassionate thought its importance demands : 
several plans have suggested themselves to his mind ; one or two of 
the more promising have been elaborated in detail, and afterward 
discarded, on account of grave objections. As the result of much 
thought, he presents a plan, the best he has been able to devise ; — 



572 the world's crisis. 

a plan certainly open to fewer objections than any other; — and, as 
he believes, the only plan which, under existing circumstances, will 
enable us to return to a specie basis, and maintain a safe currency, 
free from fluctuations, both in quantity and value. If some objec- 
tions may be urged against it, the ground of objection arises from 
the difficulties of our financial and industrial condition, which ren- 
der the return to, and maintenance of a specie basis almost impos- 
sible. No other plan will meet these difficulties so effectually ; none 
presents so few objectionable features. 

It is proper to remark here, that, for the difficulties which render 
necessary the measures now suggested, Radicalism is responsible ; 
and Radicalism, not Conservatism, is responsible for, and taxable 
with the decisive measures its policy necessitates. Were our body 
politic in a healthy state, ordinary means would suffice ; but in our 
present diseased condition, sharp remedies are needed, to avert im- 
pending ruin, and restore us to a healthy condition. If our financial 
condition were sound, no interposition of the Federal government 
would be needed. But in our present condition, — a condition Rad- 
icalism has brought about, and for which it is responsible, — the in- 
terposition of the government is absolutely essential. To pierce a 
healthy man with a knife is felony ; but the surgeon's knife, which 
eradicates the fruits of disease, is guided by benevolence : so the 
action of government which would be indefensible in a sound finan- 
cial condition, is right, is imperative, in our present dangerous 
state. 

Let us in the first instance, dispassionately consider some of the 
obstacles to our return to, and maintenance of a specie basis. 

The obstacles in the way of the establishment and maintenance 
of a specie basis may be classed under two general heads : the con- 
tinual drain of specie, in payment of interest on the foreign debt, 
and in liquidation of the adverse balance of trade ; and the exist- 
ence of the national banks. 

The drain of specie constitutes the chief obstacle to a return to a 
specie basis. We have only a little over one hundred millions of 
specie in the country, and it does not accumulate. The annual pro- 
duct of our mines is estimated at about seventy-five million dollars ; 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 573 

which leaves the country, in payment of foreign interest, and in set- 
tlement of the commercial balance against us, as fast as it is ob- 
tained from the mines. We have a foreign* debt of $1,400,000,000, 
requiring 84 million dollars in gold, to meet the interest; and we 
have an annual balance of trade against us, of $100,000,000, which 
has to be settled. — Now the question stares us in the face, How can 
wc, with $100,000,000 of gold in the country, and an annual pro- 
duct of $75,000,000, establish a specie currency of $300,000,000, 
when there is an annual drain upon us of $184,000,000, for foreign 
interest and an adverse balance of trade ? How is our stock of 
specie to be increased, when the drain for exportation is twice as 
great as our annual production? We may cut down the adverse 
balance of trade, by limiting our imports to the amount of our ex- 
ports : still, there is the $84,000,000 of foreign interest, to be paid 
in specie, — $9,000,000 more than the annual product of our mines. 
How, with this drain for specie interest, is our stock of specie to 
increase ? 

This is the stubborn problem that must be met — and solved. 
What is the solution ? Shall we give up the hope of a specie cur- 
rency, until we can increase our exports to such an extent as to pay 
for our imports, and have a balance left sufficient to meet our foreign 
interest? This will not answer : for we cannot increase our exports 
until we establish a specie currency; on the contrary, they are declin- 
ing, and will continue to decline, year by year. We must establish 
a specie currency, before we can increase our exports. We must 
establish it in the face of the deficit. How can we do it ? How can 
we increase our stock of specie, with an annual supply of only $75,- 
000,000, and an annual drain of $184,000,000 ? There is but one 
way. We must put a stop to the drain of gold, both the drain to 
meet the adverse balance of trade, and the drain to pay foreign in- 
terest. In other words, we must put a stop to the exportation of 
specie from the country. 

This is the all-important point, — the object to which we must aim. 
By what means can we best accomplish it ? 

The gold exportation proceeds through two channels : the pay- 

* See page 590-3. 



574 the world's crisis, 

ment of foreign interest, by the Federal government, states, munici- 
palities, and corporations; and the remittances of specie by mer- 
chants, in payment of foreign goods. How shall these channels of 
exportation be closed ? How prevent the drain of specie in payment 
of interest ? Shall we refuse to pay our interest in specie ? No ; 
the public faith must be kept inviolate. — How shall we prevent our 
merchants from buying gold and shipping it, in payment of goods ? 
They will buy and export, as long as they can find it in the market. 
When it comes into their hands as currency, they will certainly ship 
it abroad. How prevent it? By an export duty? That is uncon- 
stitutional. By a direct prohibition ? That would be nugatory — it 
could not be enforced. 

We thus perceive some of the difficulties of our position. We can 
have no prosperity without a specie basis : we cannot have a specie 
basis without increasing our stock of specie : we cannot increase our 
stock of specie without stopping the export of gold. We must stop 
the export of gold ; and we must stop it, without violating public 
faith, without breaking over the limits of constitutional power, with- 
out arresting industry or injuring the general prosperity. 

This is the difficult problem we have before us. 

The second obstacle hardly presents fewer difficulties. — The Na- 
tional Banks are in existence, with charters to run for sixteen years. 
It is held that the public faith is pledged to them, and that we can- 
not honorably crush them out of existence before their time, by 
.unfriendly legislation. And their continued existence, it is main- 
tained, is irreconcilable with a specie currency. 

The advocates of the banks furthermore uphold them, on the 
ground of expediency. They say that a specie currency is too 
cumbersome to meet the wants of a commercial community ; that its 
use is attended with a considerable waste of the metal ; and that, 
worst of all, a mere specie currency, left without control, will be 
subject to ceaseless fluctuations in quantity, from alternate ebbs and 
flows of exportation. They maintain that the only method of obvi- 
ating these disadvantages is, to retain the banks, and gradually 
place them upon a specie basis ; when they will afford to commerce 
a convenient and unwasting currency ; and maintain an oversight 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 575 

of the currency, preventing by judicious contractions any excessive 
export of the precious metals. 

There is much justice in this view of the question. The banks, 
as chartered, are organized upon a false principle, having debt not 
capital, poverty not wealth, as the basis of their circulation ; and, 
like all institutions hitherto established upon the same basis, they 
must, sooner or later, come down with a crash, unless they are 
placed upon a different foundation. The French Mississippi scheme, 
the crash of our free banks in 1857, and in 1861, show the radical 
unsoundness of a banking system, where currency is secured by 
bonds. Still, it would be a violation of public faith to crush the 
banks by hostile legislation : no currency system can be established, 
which does not recognize these banks, and permit their continued 
existence ; but a judicious currency system will remove them from 
their present condition of precarious and unconstitutional depend- 
ence upon the government, and place them upon a stable and inde- 
pendent foundation. These must be essential conditions in any 
currency system that is proposed. 

There is much force, also, in the objections urged to a metallic 
circulation. It is too cumbersome for business purposes, and the 
wear of the metal is a serious consideration. — But the most serious 
objection to a metallic currency is, that gold, while floating in cir- 
culation, will continue to be exported. In the first place, if we keep 
our specie in circulation, it will be exported so rapidly by mer- 
chants, that we will never have enough to suffice for the currency 
needs of the country. Besides, if we once had enough — it would 
be exported, until the contraction of the currency and hard times 
checked trade and exportation together — it would then accumulate, 
until the abundance of money stimulated trade into activity, and 
renewed exportation — this would again cause contraction and panic, 
which would check exportation — and so on in endless succession. 
A metallic currency could nejer be controlled and regulated, from 
the fact that it would be impossible, at any time, to know how much 
of it there was in the country. The first indication of redundancy 
would be excited traffic and exportation ; the first indication of 
scarcity, panic, and a financial crash. 

It has always been found necessary to have some central financial 



576 the world's crisis. * 

head, to regulate the amount of coin, and the extent of circulation. 
European countries vest this power in a great mammoth bank. We 
must not deposit the power in such an institution : for it is uncon- 
stitutional ; and our past experience proves that a bank is a very 
unsafe regulator. In periods of undue business excitement, even a 
mammoth bank is more apt to be carried away with the prevailing 
intoxication, than to check it by contraction : it is utterly impos- 
sible for a multitude of mutually independent banks, such as ours, 
to regulate the specie circulation. In our government, the treasury 
department is the only place in which to lodge the control of the 
currency. Lodged even there, it must be so arranged as to leave 
nothing discretionary with the official ; the whole system must be 
regulated by law. 

But, as we have seen, it is impossible to regulate a metallic cur- 
rency, from the impossibility of knowing its amount at any given 
time. Our circulation must be of such a character as that the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury can know its amount at any moment, and be 
able to keep it, invariably, at an equable standard. 

The foregoing observations enable us to outline, very clearly, the 
currency system we need. To recapitulate : — 

The prime essential is a plan which will stop the further exporta- 
tion of specie ; — but which will pay the interest of the public debt 
in gold ; which will not necessitate the destruction of existing banks ; 
which will give us a paper currency, upon a specie basis, — a cur- 
rency representing specie, and equivalent to it, dollar for dollar, and 
convertible into specie, at all times, and in any quantity, — a cur- 
rency which can be easily regulated by the treasury department, and 
kept, without fluctuation, at an equable standard. 

From this analysis we are able to sketch the outline of the cur- 
rency system we need. 

First. We want a paper currency ; because a metallic currency 
is cumbrous, wasteful, and impossible of regulation. 

Second. But this paper currency must be the full equivalent of 
specie, based upon coin, dollar for dollar. 

Third. The specie securing the currency must be on deposit in 
the treasury of the United States, and the paper currency must be 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OP COTTON. 577 

issued by the treasury department ; this being the only method, by 
which the Secretary of the Treasury can know its amount, and be 
able to regulate it. 

Fourth. As the paper currency is issued by the government for 
the public benefit, it is but just that the public shall furnish the 
specie upon which it is based. The specie on deposit in the Treas- 
ury ought, therefore, to consist of individual deposits; and the 
paper circulation ought to consist of " certificates of deposit," bear- 
ing no interest, but convertible into coin at every branch of the 
treasury. 

Now, it is evident, that the only plan which will accomplish these 
ends is one that will cause all the specie in the country to be depos- 
ited in the Treasury of the United States, in exchange for " certifi- 
cates of deposit." 

The question that remains to be solved is, What is the best means 
of inducing the general deposit of specie, in exchange for certifi- 
cates of deposit? If the community, convinced of its expediency, 
would do it of its own accord, no governmental action would be 
needed. But the general community is indifferent to such things ; 
and the gold speculators who monopolize our specie, will be opposed 
to a system that will destroy their business and put a stop to their 
gains. It will be necessary for the government to take such action, 
as will necessitate the withdrawal of specie from circulation, and its 
deposit in the treasury. 

To this end, it will be necessary to adopt the following measures : 

(1.) A prohibitory stamp tax of, we will say, 20 per cent., to be 
levied upon every business transaction in which specie is paid for 
any species of property whatever — whether the transaction be be- 
tween citizens of the United States — or between citizens and tem- 
porary sojourners in the country — or between citizens or temporary 
sojourners and foreigners resident abroad : And every transmission 
of specie (except to some branch of the public treasury), to be suffi- 
cient evidence of such transaction, made or intended, and the tax to 
be paid upon the transmission, under penalty of forfeiture upon any 
attempt to evade the law. — The only exception to this law should 
be in favor of the residents of gold-producing states and territories, 

37 



578 

who should have the right to conduct their internal traffic with a 
gold currency, but not their traffic with the people of any other 
state or country ; and the transmission of specie from such state or 
territory should be sufficient evidence of such a transaction made or 
intended, — the tax to be payable upon such transmission. 

(2.) Branches of the treasury to be established at important 
points in the different states, and one at least in every gold-pro- 
ducing state or territory ; at all which, specie is to be received and 
certificates of deposit given in exchange, and gold paid out for cer- 
tificates, upon demand. 

(3.) This tax to continue until $300,000,000 of specie deposits 
are in the treasury; then the Secretary of the Treasury to give no- 
tice of the fact, and announce that the tax upon specie payments 
and specie transmission is suspended ; but whenever the amount of 
deposits in the treasury shall be less than §300,000,000, the tax to 
be re-established by proclamation, until the deposits are raised to 
the standard. — It will be seen from this, that it is proposed that the 
plan shall be the permanent currency system of the country. When 
we once have the system established, and the requisite amount of 
" certificates," in circulation, the tax will be put in force only when 
the exportation of specie is diminishing the quantity in the country 
below the standard ; and it may be so reduced as not to arrest the 
exportation altogether, but only to discourage it until the specie in 
the treasury is increased to the normal standard. In this way, the 
currency might be regulated with precision. The instant the ex- 
portation of specie became excessive, it would cause the imposition 
of the tax, to check it ; the moment the check was sufficient, the tax 
would be withdrawn. 

Once on foot, the currency system would be the most perfect that 
can be devised. 

But other measures will be necessary, to enable us to effect the 
change from our present currency system: our inflated currency 
must be contracted ; the attitude of the banks must be modified ; 
the payment of our interest must be provided for. 

The entire system of financial measures proposed, may be pre- 
sented in the following order : — 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 579 

First : The deposit system, as already presented, to be estab- 
lished. 

Second: The present " greenback" circulation to be withdrawn 
in exchange for bonds, at the rate of, we will say, $50,000,000 every 
three months, so that the whole will be retired at the expiration of 
two years. 

Third: The present circulation of the banks to be gradually with- 
drawn, as the certificates of deposits increase, the bonds now on 
deposit by the banks being returned to them ; until, when the " cer- 
tificates of deposit " shall be sufficient in quantity for the currency 
wants of the country, the present bank notes will all be withdrawn. 

Fourth: The present banks either to wind up, or to strengthen 
themselves with " certificates of deposit " as their notes are retired, 
at their option. 

Fifth: As many banks may be established as the public may 
choose; — but under the following limitations. (1.) All charters, 
hereafter, to be granted by the state legislatures. (2.) All banks 
must bank upon "certificates of deposit" only; the banks incurring 
no responsibility for their redemption, they being convertible into 
specie at any branch of the treasury; — and any bank issuing any 
other currency than certificates of deposit, to be taxed out of ex- 
istence. (3.) No bank to withhold from circulation more than one- 
twentieth of its capital stock, at any time, under penalty of a tax 
of fifty per cent, upon such suppressed capital. This is necessary 
to prevent a combination among the banks, to withdraw money from 
circulation, for the purpose of creating a stringency in the money 
market, that they may obtain a higher rate of interest. — Under these 
regulations, banks could do no harm. They could neither inflate 
nor contract the currency. They would be merely co-partnerships 
of capitalists combining their funds for banking purposes. They 
might exist in any number, and with great advantage to business, 
without affecting the currency in the slightest degree. Indeed, 
under this system, banks might advantageously multiply, until all 
the loaning capital of the country were through them rendered ac- 
cessible to the business community. 



580 the world's crisis. 

Sixth: It only remains to make provision for the interest of the 
public debt. 

In a few years, gold will have accumulated in the country in suf- 
ficient quantities to suffice for the wants of currency ; when the an- 
nual product can be exported. Furthermore, a wise system of 
administration will soon re-establish our industry, and vastly in- 
crease our exports. Then, our increased exports and our shipments 
of specie will enable us to meet the interest of the debt, without 
any special care. But at present, when our exports are less than 
our imports, and we can spare no specie from the country, the pay- 
ment of our interest requires special attention. — Until we have gold 
enough for our currency, we must adopt two regulations : 

(1.) That no gold interest shall be paid to any public creditor, 
except at the federal treasury. Then the gold cannot be shipped 
from the country, either by the native or the foreign holder of 
bonds. They can keep the gold if they choose ; but they cannot 
ship it abroad, nor buy anything with it, without paying a tax of 
twenty per cent. Under the circumstances, both classes of public 
creditors will prefer to re-deposit their gold in the treasury, receiving 
in exchange "certificates of deposit," which they can use. The 
foreign bondholder will purchase with these certificates American 
produce, which will give him his interest in gold, when sold in the 
foreign market : the native bondholder can use his certificates in all 
the business transactions of the country. — Neither of these classes 
has any right to complain of this regulation. The government ex- 
ercises no discrimination against thern. The same principle applies 
to them that applies to every holder of specie in the country. The 
California or Idaho merchant who has gold, when he wishes to make 
any purchase, is compelled by the operation of the law to deposit 
his gold in the treasury, and receive " certificates of deposit," with 
which to conduct his operations : the Western gold dealer finds his 
gold of less value than " certificates," and is under the necessity 
of depositing it, and receiving " certificates " in exchange. The 
bondholder deposits his specie interest, just as other holders of 
specie do, because it cannot be used in circulation, except at a ru- 
inous sacrifice. He has no right to demand that the government 
shall make a special exception in his favor. Moreover, all parties 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 581 

aggrieved by the operation of the law must remember that its effects 
are only temporary. In three or four years, we shall have specie 
enough for our own wants, when the annual surplus product will be 
used and exported, as at present. Then, all depositors who wish, can 
draw their gold from the treasury, and use it. But no one will then 
wish to do so ; for the " certificates " will be equally valuable as gold. 
(2.) It will be necessary, at first, to require that a certain portion 
of the taxes, — enough to meet the gold interest, — shall be paid in 
" certificates." The reason for this is obvious : the gold deposited 
in the treasury belongs, not to the government, but to the holders 
of the " certificates." The man who holds a certificate is the owner 
of that amount of gold in the treasury. This gold is a sacred de- 
posit, which the government has no right to use for its own purposes. 
But every dollar of certificates paid in for taxes gives the govern- 
ment ownership of a dollar of deposited gold. It must, therefore, 
require a sufficient proportion of the taxes to be paid in "cer- 
tificates," to give it gold enough to meet the annual interest. This 
discrimination, however, need only last a couple of years ; for, after 
that, the certificates will constitute a great part of the currency — 
and eventually, the whole currency will consist of certificates and 
gold : then, of course, enough certificates to meet the interest would 
come in by taxation, without any special requirement. 

Such is the series of measures proposed. They will bring prices 
to their normal standard in two years ; establish a specie currency, 
or its equivalent, in four years ; and maintain, ever after, a self- 
regulating currency, subject to no fluctuations in quantity or value, — 
a currency, the equivalent of specie, and which may be kept, without 
difficulty, at any standard in respect of quantity, the business wants 
of the country may be found to require. The standard amount may 
be gradually raised as the expanding business of the country may 
demand ; and if, at any time, inflated prices proved that the standard 
was too high, it might be lowered at once, until the contraction of 
the currency reduced prices to the proper standard. 

Once established, it is unquestionably the best currency system 
that has ever been devised. It comprises all the best features of 
the English system, without its faults. It is essentially a specie 



582 THE world's crisis. 

currency, freed from its objectionable features. It unites the sta- 
bility of a specie basis, with the advantages of an unlimited bank- 
ing system. 

If any are disposed to object to the tax on specie transactions, 
which is the currency regulator proposed, we ask, what other regu- 
lator can be adopted? The usual method of keeping specie in a 
country is, to enhance its value : thus, the Bank of England, when 
it wishes to stop an excessive exportation of specie, raises the rate 
of interest, and makes specie so valuable as to prevent its leaving 
the country. But this system will not answer with us : Specie is 
already too valuable ; yet high as the premium is, it does not prevent 
its exportation. We therefore propose to act on the opposite prin- 
ciple, and, by making specie of less practical value than li certificates," 
cause it to be exchanged for them and shut up in the treasury, 
where it is free from danger of shipment. This is, unquestionably, 
the true principle of regulating the supply of specie : it injures no 
branch of enterprise ; whereas the mode of regulating it by raising 
the rate of interest, imposes a serious burden upon the business 
community. It is true that the measure does injure those who are 
speculating upon the exorbitant value of gold in proportion to our 
present paper currency. But it injures no one else : it does not 
affect the business community ; and however we may sympathize 
with the anguish of the gold dealers, whose business will be de- 
stroyed, we cannot be expected to sacrifice the entire business in- 
terests of the country to the continuance of their speculative traffic. 

But it may be urged that these measures will impair the public 
credit ; and, by causing a reshipment of bonds to this country, bring 
on a financial crisis. This is impossible : the foreign bonds could 
not be thrown upon our market ; for the operation of the law for- 
bidding specie payment in business transactions, would prevent any 
American capitalist from purchasing them. Moreover, the foreign 
bondholder would have no desire to reship the bonds : the proposed 
plan of finance will tend to maintain the public credit, not to destroy 
it : it will enhance the value of our bonds in the foreign market. It 
is the constant exportation of bonds, to meet commercial balances, 
and payments of interest, that is ruinous to the public credit. This 
cause has already depressed our bonds fifteen per cent, lower than 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 583 

British consols, though our interest is double. How long will our 
credit last, when it becomes evident that our exports are not suf- 
ficient to meet our extravagant expenditure, and the interest of our 
debt ; and that, like an embarrassed spendthrift, we are constantly- 
hawking our bonds in the market, as the only means of meeting the 
annual deficit? But let it be known that no more bonds are to be 
exported ; that, during the next four years, the bondholder will 
receive his interest in gold, which he can either place on deposit in 
this country, or invest in commodities for export, at his option ; and 
that, thereafter, he can ship his gold interest abroad annually, as it 
is received, — and our bonds now abroad will rise rapidly in value. 
It must be remembered that the measures proposed will restore 
cheap production : the foreign bondholder would find it as advanta- 
geous to invest his interest in cheap American products for exporta- 
tion, as to export it in specie: commercial arrangements might readily 
be made, which would enable the foreign bondholder to realize 
his interest as readily, as if he shipped the gold from this country. 
No solid objection can be urged against the plan. But if there 
were many, they must die away in view of the fact, that it is the 
only possible method by which, without violating the public faith, 
we can return to a specie basis, and resume our prosperity. 

IV. Kemission of Taxes. 
The adoption of the measures already proposed will prove of de- 
cided advantage to our productive industry. With a specie currency, 
a tariff policy constructed on the principle of free trade, and a prop- 
erty tax, — our productive industry would outrival in cheapness that 
of all other countries. Our entire productive industry would be 
equally benefited by these measures. Every department of agricul- 
ture and manufactures would be benefited as much as the growth 
and manufacture of cotton. 

But the circumstances of our condition require that we should 
direct the enterprise of the country especially toward the cotton 
interest. In this only have we such advantages as give us a decided 
advantage over British competition ; moreover, its firm establish- 
ment will foster all other branches of our industry. Our cotton 
industry possesses advantages, under favorable conditions, over any 



584 the world's crisis. 

other branch of native enterprise, and might in the end, even with- 
out special advantages, take the lead of all others. But our position 
is too critical to admit of dilatory proceedings. It is important that 
we obtain a speedy and decisive ascendancy over the cotton manu- 
factures of Great Britain. To this end, we must give peculiar 
advantages to our cotton interest, which will make it the most profit- 
able investment of capital, and turn into it, especially, the energies and 
capital of the country. 

The most legitimate means of advancing the cotton interest, as 
well as the most efficacious, is the adjusting of taxation so as to 
favor it. We should exempt from the property tax all lands culti- 
vated in cotton, and all cotton factories. 

This exemption would give to capital invested in these branches 
of industry from five to ten per cent, greater profits than any other 
business would yield. This would be sufficient, other things equal, 
to concentrate capital upon them, and enlarge them at once into the 
magnificent proportions the crisis demands. 



The measures already mentioned leave nothing more to be desired 
as respects cheapness of production. With a specie currency, 
cheap imports, a property tax, and the exemption of cotton produc- 
tion and manufacturing from taxation, our cotton industry would, in 
equal competition, be able to surpass in cheapness the factories of 
any other country. 



CHAPTER III. 

MEASURES NECESSARY TO PREVENT GREAT BRITAIN FROM 
DESTROYING OUR COTTON INDUSTRY AND TO CRIPPLE HER 
COMPETITION. 

We have just remarked, that the measures already proposed will 
enable our cotton industry to surpass in cheapness of production all 
other countries. But it is not enough to promote cheapness of 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 585 

production. That, under ordinary circumstances, would be sufficient 
to our success, in competition with Great Britain. But in this case, 
the regular laws of industry do not obtain. We must take measures 
to counter a war waged against our cotton industry by Great Britain, 
with all the power of her immense accumulated capital. 

British manufacturers and British capitalists will enter into a 
competition with our cotton manufactures, and endeavor to break 
them down, at whatever sacrifice. British manufacturers are not 
afraid of our iron, and woolen, and flax manufactures. These they 
can compete with, on somewhat equal terms; and they would not 
sell goods at a sacrifice, to break them down. But our cotton manu- 
factures would threaten the entire fabric of British commercial 
supremacy. So unparalleled are our natural advantages for this 
business, that, once firmly established, our factories would distance 
their competition ; and the business is of such transcendent impor- 
tance, that its loss would subvert the foundation of British grandeur. 
A combination, backed by all the power of the accumulated capital 
of Great Britain, would attempt the overthrow of our infant enter- 
prise, at whatever pecuniary sacrifice. They would flood our coun- 
try with cotton goods, and sell them, if necessary, at a dead loss, 
and think it an excellent investment of capital, if they thereby 
crushed our manufactures, and gave themselves time to develop 
fully the industrial resources of the new fields they are raising up 
in competition with us. We must expect the expenditure of British 
capital poured forth in lavish streams, for the purpose of breaking 
down our cotton manufactures. 

We must accept the gage of contest. We must fight England 
with her own weapons, and secure the victory in our industrial con- 
test, by adopting vigorous financial and trade regulations. We 
must adopt measures, that will not only prevent her from crushing 
our industry, but which will take the offensive, and effectually 
destroy her power to compete with us. 

The measures necessary to protect our own interests against 
British centralization of commerce, will operate directly to over- 
throw that centralization. As we enabled England to attain her 
centralization, so we now enable her to maintain it. It is upheld by 
the resources of the United States, which our position as the com- 



586 

mercial satellite of England permits her to subsidize. While we 
remain her satellite, her supremacy cannot be shaken. We break 
it down by taking our proper position in the commercial world. 
Great Britain will use every effort to keep our industry in a con- 
dition that will enable her to continue to subsidize our resources. 
The measures necessary to thwart those attempts, will necessarily 
tend to cripple the competition of England. 

Sect. 1. — Financial Measures Necessary for Self-Protection. 

Our chief point of weakness in a competition with England is our 
national debt. This injures us, both in a financial, and an industrial 
point of view. — (1.) The country has to pay $140,000,000 of annual 
interest; of which $100,000,000 is payable in specie, the greater 
part due on bonds owned by foreigners. This specie interest, under 
our present system, keeps the country drained of gold, and inflicts 
upon us a high tariff of specie duties. — (2.) Furthermore, our bonds 
are annually exported in large quantities, to pay for imports in ex- 
cess of our exports ; flooding the country with foreign importations, 
to the injury of domestic industry ; and increasing our foreign debt, 
to an extent that will soon result in bankruptcy. 

While this state of things is suffered to continue, it will effectually 
prevent any successful competition with England. The exportation 
of gold, as we have seen, prevents a return to a specie basis, and 
burdens the country with a high tariff; and the exportation of 
bonds is threatening bankruptcy, and flooding the country with for- 
eign goods, notwithstanding the tariff. It is of the last importance 
to stop the exportation both of specie and bonds. 

I. The Exportation of Specie must be Stopped. 

The necessity of arresting the specie exportation, in order to 
bring about a specie basis, a reduction of prices, and cheap produc- 
tion, has already been discussed. As an additional proof of the 
imperative necessity of the currency measures suggested in the last 
chapter, we, in this connection, propose to show, further, the neces- 
sity of arresting the exportation of specie, as a means of protecting 
our industry against British competition. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 587 

1st. The Exportation of Specie Assisting to Glut our Market with 
Foreign Goods, to the Injury of Domestic Manufactures. 

It is of the utmost importance, while we are endeavoring to foster 
home manufactures, to protect them against a glut of the market 
with foreign goods. A tariff, even as high as ours, cannot effect 
this. It can only be effected by means of the balance of trade. If 
we cut off excessive importations of foreign goods by means of the 
balance of trade, we afford our infant manufactures the most efficient 
protection, without inflating prices by a high tariff. 

By stopping the exportation of specie and bonds, we accomplish 
this object, effectually. Our exportation of specie and bonds, in 
payment of interest and an adverse trade balance, amounts to an 
annual sum of §200,000,000. This gluts our markets with $200,000,- 
000 of foreign goods, a great portion of which would be cut off by 
stopping the export of specie and bonds. The exclusion of these 
goods would give our manufactures the best encouragement to ex- 
pansion, — brisk sales, at moderate profits. 

At present we pay our interest with gold. This leaves all our 
exports to be exchanged for imports ; and we take, besides, such ad- 
ditional quantities of foreign goods as we can pay for in bonds. 
Our imports, therefore, may now exceed our exports of produce by 
any quantity, provided we can pay for the excess in bonds. By 
prohibiting the export of bonds, we limit our imports to- the amount 
of our exported produce : by prohibiting furthermore, the exporta- 
tion of specie, we cause the foreign bondholder to invest his interest 
in our produce and export it in that form ; and our importations 
will be less than our exports, by the amount of our foreign in- 
terest. — It will appear as we proceed, that our foreign debt is now 
more than $1,400,000,000, requiring $84,000,000 for the payment 
of interest. Therefore, by prohibiting the exportation of specie, we 
limit our importations to an amount less by $84,000,000 than our 
exports. 

This limitation of our imports would have a double advantage : it 
would prevent a glut of foreign goods in our market ; and it would 
increase the amount of our exported produce. For Britain would 
be unwilling to lose our market to so great an extent ; and if British 
capitalists could not obtain payment for their goods in specie and 



588 the world's crisis. 

bonds, they would receive in exchange larger quantities of Ameri- 
can produce. The amount of our commerce would probably be as 
great as at present ; with the difference, however, of an increase of 
exports, and a decrease of imports. 

It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the benefits this would confer, 
both upon our manufactures, and our agricultural production. 

2d. The Exportation of Specie Strengthening England for Compe- 
tition with our Cotton Industry. 

In the emergency of our competition with her cotton manufac- 
tures, it is especially important to cut off her specie supply from 
England. The supply of gold Great Britain obtains from us, is ab- 
solutely essential to her cotton manufactures. All her new fields 
of cotton production require a large specie balance for their staple. 
England is endeavoring to bring them up to the industrial stand- 
point, at which they will take enough of her manufactures, — agri- 
cultural implements, hardware, and manufactured fabrics, — to pay for 
their exports. If their imports continue to grow in the ratio of the 
past few years, the object will be attained. But they now require 
over one hundred million of dollars of specie, annually. If the sup- 
ply of specie is cut off from England, their production will at once 
decline, and British competition with us, in the cotton manufacture, 
will become impossible. 

The chief supply of British gold is derived from the United States. 
Erom 1821 to 1861, inclusive, we exported 718 million dollars of 
specie; 431 millions being exported since 1849. From 1848 to 
1865, the products of our mines amounted to over $600,000,000, all 
of which has now been exported ; besides a considerable part of the 
production of the last two years. The balance of trade has always 
been against us, and we regularly exported, for the benefit of En- 
gland, the specie products of our mines, contenting ourselves with 
a paper medium. 

It is this American specie which has enabled England to stimu- 
late the production of cotton so vastly, within the last five years. 
She has lavished specie, chiefly obtained from us, to stimulate an 
industry designed to break down our prosperity; plucking a plume 
from the eagle's wing to feather the arrow for its destruction. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 589 

India especially demands large remittances of specie, in payment 
for cotton. That country has always been the vortex, in which the 
specie of the world has been engulfed. Ever since the discovery of 
America, the specie obtained from the American mines has been 
poured in a full tide upon India. The mines of Mexico, alone, have 
given to commerce nearly three thousand million dollars. The sil- 
ver of Mexico, of Peru, has all been engulfed in the East. The 
Hindoos consume all the specie they obtain, in jewelry worn on the 
person. Thirty years ago, the troubles in Mexico and the Spanish 
South American States interrupted the working of the mines, and 
the supply of specie grew scarce in Europe. The trade with India 
languished. But the mines of California and Australia gave it a 
new impulse, and it has grown into unprecedented magnitude. In 
the sixteen years during which those gold fields have been pouring 
their treasures forth upon the world, the specie currency of Chris- 
tendom has hardly increased in an appreciable degree. The money 
has gone to the East. The London circular of Mr. James Lowe 
states that, in the eleven years from 1851 to 1861, inclusive, Great 
Britain shipped to India, by a single line of steamers, £89,856,758 
(§449,283,790), — a sum nearly equal to the product of the California 
mines, during the period. Besides this, must be reckoned the sup- 
ply of Australian gold, amounting in the last sixteen years to 
$750,000,000 ; much of which is remitted by British merchants 
direct to India, without being brought to England. — The shipments 
of specie to India were vastly increased, when it was designed to 
stimulate the production of cotton. In 1862, the export of specie 
from England to India increased $19,000,000 beyond the amount 
of the year before. It continued to increase, until, not only the 
California and Australian supplies were exhausted, but Europe was 
drained of the precious metals to an extent which threatened a finan- 
cial crisis. The rate of interest in the Bank of England rose to the 
almost unprecedented standard of 9 per cent. ; and a similar rise 
occurred throughout Europe, before the exportation could be checked. 
India still demands an immense annual specie balance. In the years, 
1864-5, Great Britain imported, from India, produce to the value 
of £52,287,869 ($261,439,345), while India only received of Brit- 
ish manufactures £19,895,145 ($99,475,725), leaving a balance of 



590 the world's crisis. 

$160,000,000, a great portion of which was paid by shipments of 
specie. 

This is the fatal point of weakness in British competition with us, 
in cotton manufactures. If we continue to ship to her specie, she 
will continue to foster India cotton production, and will prove a 
most formidable rival ; but if we prevent the exportation of specie, 
for four or five years, British competition will be placed at great 
disadvantage,* and we may achieve the monopoly of the cotton trade. 

II. The further Exportation of Bonds must be Prohibited. 

1st. This Prohibition Beneficial to our Industry. 
It is unnecessary to dwell further upon the benefit our manu- 
factures and our export trade will derive from the prohibition of the 
further exportation of bonds. It is sufficient to remark, in this con- 
nection, that when the export of bonds and specie stops, our im- 
ports will be less than our exports, by the amount of interest on 
our foreign debt. If our exports amount to $400,000,000, as in 
1866, our imports, which were, in the same year, over $500,000,000, 
could not be, under this arrangement, more than $316,000,000. It 
may easily be imagined what an advantage it will be to our manu- 
factures, to strike off the competition of $200,000,000 of foreign 
goods. In this way, the balance of trade will give them a far more 
efficient protection than the tariff now affords. 

2d. The Prohibition necessary to avert Bankruptcy. 

But the prohibition of the exportation of bonds is advocated es- 
pecially on the ground, that it is necessary to save us from financial 
ruin, and national bankruptcy. 

The amount of the National Debt now owned by foreign capi- 
talists, is not accurately known. The estimate of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, which places it at $250,000,000, is, obviously, greatly 



* The cessation of the American supply of gold would cause a ruinous 
financial revulsion in England. In 1857, the stoppage of remittances for a few 
months, owing to the financial crisis in this country, caused a dreadful panic; 
which swept over Great Britain like a tempest, bearing down many of the 
strongest firms in the country, and was hardly prevented from becoming uni- 
versal, by the most energetic governmental measures of relief 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 591 

within the mark. Fortunately, we have the data from wnich an 
accurate estimate may be made. The transfer of our debt to foreign 
capitalists has been going forward during the last five years : (1) In 
payment of the balance of trade against us ; (2) In the payment of 
the interest on state, railway, municipal, and national bonds, owned 
abroad. 

The following table gives the balance of trade against us from 
June 1861, to June 1866. The column of exports includes all the 
specie exported from the country, together with the goods exported, 
reduced to specie value. According to the official returns our im- 
ports exceed our entire exports, including specie, by $260,000,000. 
But the Secretary of the Treasury states that these official returns 
do not show the true balance of trade against us : there is a syste- 
matic undervaluation of imports; much the larger portion of our 
foreign trade is carried on in foreign vessels; and there is a great 
deal of smuggling along our extensive land and ocean boundaries. 
He says, to make up for the undervaluation, smuggling, and trans- 
portation paid to foreign ship owners, we must add at least 20 per 
cent, to the official returns of imports. In the annexed table, the 
percentage for these items is accordingly added; but as they were 
not so great five years ago, as now, only ten per cent, is at first 
added, and the percentage is gradually increased in the probable 
ratio of the increase of smuggling, undervaluation, and freights to 
foreign owners. The following table gives a fair statement of the 
balance of trade against us : — 

YEAR. IMPORTS. EXPORTS. EXCESS OF IMPORTS. 

1862 .... $275,357,051 $227,127,556 $ 48,229,495. 

1863 .... 252,919,920 
Add 10 per cent. - - 25,291,992 

Total for 1863 - - $278,211,912 $252,419,203 $ 25,792,709. 

1864 ---. 329,562,895 
Add 14£ per cent - - 47,080,413 

Total for 1864 - - $376,643,308 $218,489,252 $158,154,056. 

1865 .... 234,339,810 
Add 20 per cent. - - 46,867,962 

Total for 1865 - - $281,207,772 $194,175,382 $ 87,032,390. 



592 the world's crisis. 

1866 ---- 423,975,000 

Add 20 per cent. - - 84,795,000 

Total for 1866 - - $508,770,000 $415,965,000 $ 92,805,000. 

$412,013,650. 

It thus appears that the actual excess of our imports over all ex- 
ports, inclusive of specie, up to June 1866, was §412,000,000. But 
this does not yet show the balance against us. These annually ac- 
cruing balances have been paid with national bonds, sold at a dis- 
count to foreign capitalists. Moreover, the interest upon these 
bonds has been annually met; and as our commercial balance has 
consumed all the specie exported, the amount of this interest has 
also been paid by the sale of bonds.* Furthermore, the interest 
upon state, railroad, and municipal bonds, has been met, and our 
only resource for this, also, has been the sale of bonds. The fol- 
lowing table gives a fair exhibit of the growth and present amount 
of our debt, owned by foreign capitalists : — 

Balance of trade against us, June 1862 - - $ 48,229,495 

Requiring in bonds, at 40 per cent, discount - $ 80,382,491 

Interest on above, to June 1863 - - - - $ 4,800,000 
Balance of trade against us, June 1863 - - 25,792,709 



Total interest and balance, June 1863 ... $ 30,592,709 

Requiring in bonds, at 40 per cent, discount - $ 50,987,848 



Total bonds abroad, on balance of trade, June 1863 $131,370,339 

Interest on above, to June 1864 - - - - $ 7,882,000 
Balance of trade against us, June 1864 - - 158,154,056 

Total interest and balance, June 1864 - - - $166,036,056 

Requiring in bonds, at 40 per cent, discount - $276,726,339 



Total bonds abroad, on balance of trade, June 1864 $408,097,099 

* It may be said that this interest has been paid by the exportation of gold. 
This may be, and yet the result will be the same; for if the gold exported has 
been applied to the payment of interest, it has left so much larger deficit in the 
commercial balance, to be paid with bonds. It makes no difference in the cal- 
culation, whether we apply the specie to the payment of the interest, or the 
commercial balance. The result is the same. For convenience of calculation, 
we suppose it to be applied to the latter, leaving the interest to be paid by the 
sale of bonds. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 593 

Interest, to June 1865 $ 24,485,225 

Balance of trade against us, June 1865 - - 87,032,390 



Interest and balance of trade, June 1865 - - $111,518,215 

Requiring in bonds, at 40 per cent, discount - - $185,863,691 



Total bonds abroad, on balance of trade, June 1865 $593,960,790 

Interest, to June 1866 $ 35,637,647 

Balance of trade against us, June 1866 - - 92,805,000 



Interest and balance of trade, June 1866 - - $138,442,647 

Requiring in bonds, at 27 per cent, discount - $189,647,000 



Total bonds abroad, on balance of trade, June 1866 $783,607,790 

Interest, to June 1867 $ 47,016,467 

Balance of trade against us, June 1867 - - 96,000,000 



Interest and balance of trade, June 1867 - $143,016,467 

Requiring in bonds, at 27 per cent, discount - - $195,000,000 



$978,607,709 

Our adverse balance of trade, with discount and interest, has 
caused the sale of $978,000,000 of bonds to foreign capitalists. 

But there remains still to be counted the principal of state, rail- 
road, and municipal bonds, together with the interest which has 
been paid by the sale of bonds. In 1862, about $300,000,000 of 
these bonds were owned abroad. To meet the interest on this sum, 
bonds have been annually exported, and sold at the usual discount 
in the foreign market. At the regular rate of discount, this has re- 
quired the sale of bonds to the amount of $175,000,000. 

Estimating, then, the bonds sold to meet the principal and interest 
of the annual balance of trade against us, at $978,000,000 ; this with 
the $175,000,000 exported to pay the interest on state, county, and 
municipality, bonds, will make $1,153,000,000 of federal bonds, now 
owned by foreign capitalists. Adding to this sum the $300,000,000 
of state, county, and municipality debt; we find the whole amount 
of our bonds in the hands of foreign capitalists, to be $1,453,000,000. 
To meet the annual interest on this, requires the exportation of $87,- 
000,000 in gold, or the exportation and sale of $125,000,000 of 
bonds. 

It may be that this amount of bonds is not actually in Europe. 
38 



594 the world's crisis. 

A large portion of them are, no doubt, held in Eastern cities, by 
agents of European capitalists, and branches of English mercantile 
houses, who receive the interest. But this does not alter the state 
of fact. No matter where they are held, they are owned abroad, 
and the accruing interest goes into the coffers of foreign capitalists. — 
It is a part of the astute policy of British capitalists to hold their 
bonds in this country. They do not wish to awaken our fears, by 
displaying openly the full extent of our foreign debt. They prefer 
to draw the gold interest on this side of the Atlantic, when it can 
be transmitted without exciting alarm. But when the debt is all 
absorbed ; and we have no longer anything else to lose, the mask will 
be thrown aside ; the bonds will be transferred to the real owners, 
in Europe ; and we shall be roused from fancied security, to find our 
debt all sold, our resources hopelessly mortgaged to foreign bankers, 
and the nation bankrupt. 

If our foreign debt continues to accumulate as rapidly, in the 
future, as in the past, the entire debt will be owned by foreigners, 
four years hence. Even if we economize and import no more than 
we export, still, the interest on the debt now owned by foreigners 
will alone absorb all our gold interest bonds before three years are 
past ; and the accumulated interest will absorb our entire national 
debt within nine years from this date. 

This state of fact imperatively demands that we at once put a 
stop to the exportation of bonds. To this end, an act should be 
passed, prohibiting the further sale or hypothecation of bonds to 
foreigners, under penalty of forfeiture. The enforcing of the pro- 
hibition may be attended with some difficulty, inasmuch as foreign 
holders of bonds frequently keep them in this country, deposited 
with agents, or the heads of branch mercantile houses. Hence, it 
would not suffice to prohibit the exportation of bonds ; their sale or 
hypothecation to foreigners should be prohibited, whether they are 
exported or not. The only method of enforcing the prohibition is 
to require all bonds to registered, and their transfer to be recorded 
like real estate. This registration would show what bonds are now 
owned by foreigners ; and none should be paid, if hereafter sold to 
foreigners, even though again transferred to American hands. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 595 

Such an act is clearly constitutional. The Federal government 
has the right to regulate commerce with foreign countries in such a 
manner as to prevent it from involving the country in bankruptcy. 

If it be urged that the measures necessary to prevent the exporta- 
tion of specie and bonds are unusual, the fact is admitted. But war 
warrants many things inexcusable in peace. And the British policy 
of monopoly is waging an internecine war upon our prosperity, 
which has already progressed so far, that only the most energetic 
measures can avert impending ruin. The question to be decided is 
not, Are the measures usual ? but, Are they essential to avert 
disaster? to promote our prosperity? 

Of this, there can be no question. The exportation of specie is 
strengthening the centralization of England, preventing our return 
to a specie basis, and assisting to maintain a ruinous inflation of 
prices: the exportation of bonds is rapidly driving us on toward 
bankruptcy; both combined are flooding the country with importa- 
tions to an extent disastrous to our manufacturing industry. While 
the exportation of specie and bonds continues to stimulate importa- 
tions, we will vainly endeavor to raise our manufactures to a condi- 
tion adequate to a competition with England. Active demand, and 
scarcity of supply, are the best stimulants of manufacturing industry. 
High prices are no compensation for a glutted market. A ready 
demand, with quick returns, and moderate profits, are the most 
favorable conditions for the development of manufactures. The 
only method of developing domestic manufactures is, to limit foreign 
importations within such bounds that they shall not oversupply our 
markets. A tariff cannot protect our manufactures from an over- 
supply of foreign goods, so long as our importing merchants can 
purchase unlimited stocks of goods, in exchange for specie and 
bonds. They will import all the goods they can sell, and thus effec- 
tually prevent any rapid development of our manufactures. England 
has always flattered us by calling us her " best customer." We 
must cease to be her best customer, if we regard our own prosper- 
ity. We must compel her to take our produce in exchange for 
every commodity of her commerce we import. The only means of 
effecting this, and protecting our manufactures against a flood of 



596 the world's crisis. 

British goods, is to take effectual measures to prevent, in future, the 
exportation of specie or bonds. 

But these measures, alone, will not be sufficient to counteract the 
immense resources of Great Britain, all put forth in a desperate 
competition with our industry. — It must be remembered that the 
interruption of the exportation of specie would be only temporary. 
In a few years, our mines would afford us a metallic basis fully 
equal to our currency needs, and, afterward, the annual products of 
our mines would again be exported, as now. Unless our industry 
were by that time firmly established, Britain might resume her 
interrupted designs, and again use our gold to foster the cotton pro- 
duction of rival fields. If we adopted no other measures, Britain 
might easily counter our schemes of manufacturing competition. 
Intermitting, for a few years, her fostering care of rival fields, by 
consuming our cotton at high prices, she would enable us to buy 
her commodities as before, and would keep our markets so flooded 
with goods, as to stifle the development of our native manufactures. 
Then, when our exportation of specie was resumed, she might re- 
sume her policy of fostering rival production, and prosecute it, at 
her leisure, to a successful termination. 

It is necessary for us to adopt vigorous measures, which will give 
our cotton manufacture a decided ascendancy within a few years 
after our policy is inaugurated. 

Sect. 2. — Trade Regulations Necessary for Self-Protection. 
The Government must regulate our commerce with foreign 
nations. 

The first step to be adopted in this direction is, 

I. The Entire Change of our Present Warehouse System. 

•We now allow foreign goods to be placed in warehouses in our 
ports, without paying any duty previous to their entry. The pay- 
ment of duties is only required when the goods are removed from 
the warehouse, and thrown upon the market. 

This system is ruinous to our own manufactures. It seems de- 
vised for the purpose of enabling the foreign merchant to keep our 
market glutted with goods, to the injury of domestic production. 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 597 

It allows the British exporter to deposit his goods in our ports, in- 
stead of storing them at home, and thus keep them in waiting for 
the slightest opening in the market. By establishing branch houses 
in our ports, or, by making arrangements with American importers, 
in virtue of which goods are to be paid for only when withdrawn 
from the warehouse and exposed to sale, the British merchant may, 
without any expense, forestall our market to such an extent as to 
discourage the embarkation of additional capital in manufactures. 
So long as we thus favor foreign competition with our own produc- 
tions, our industry will continue to be depressed by the presence in 
our ports of foreign goods greatly in excess of the demand. What 
American capitalist will invest his means in cotton manufactures, 
when British goods to the value of millions of dollars are stored in 
our ports, ready to take advantage of the slightest opening in the 
market ? 

If foreign capitalists wish to deluge our market with goods in ex- 
cess of the demand, for the purpose of injuring our home manufac- 
tures, we must make them pay for the privilege. The bonded 
warehouse system is a great convenience to commerce, and ought to 
be continued in favor of all commodities whose importation we wish 
to facilitate. All dutiable articles which do not come into competi- 
tion with any home product, should be admitted to bonded ware- 
houses, and pay duties only when they are withdrawn and placed 
upon the market. But all foreign commodities which compete with 
our home industry, should be excluded from bonded warehouses, and 
compelled to pay duties upon their arrival in port. This would check 
the importation of such goods in excess of the demand, and prevent 
the glut of the market so discouraging to the increase of our home 
manufactures. Foreign merchants can afford to let their goods lie 
in storage in our ports ; but paying duties in advance of the demand, 
would make the keeping an overstock of goods upon our market an 
expensive pleasure. Then, goods would be imported, only to sup- 
ply an existing demand, — to complement the deficit in our own 
production. Our own manufactures would have the first chance in 
the market, and the active demand for goods would stimulate home 
production. 



598 the world's crisis. 

But the most important measure necessary for the protection of 
home industry against the oppressive competition of England is 

II. The Regulation of Commerce with Great Britain, by means op a Dis- 
criminating Tariff upon all British Manufactures which come in Compe- 
tition with our own. 

In so far as the tariff looked to revenue, its duties ought to be 
imposed upon articles consumed by the wealthy class, — as rich wines 
and liquors, and fine fabrics of whatever material. For such ar- 
ticles, not being consumed by the laboring class, would not raise the 
rate of wages and enhance the cost of production. All articles of 
general consumption, — as tea, sugar, coffee, and coarse fabrics, — 
should, as a rule, be free of duty. 

As a protective measure, the tariff should levy taxes on British 
manufactures, exclusively. We should admit all British commodi- 
ties of moderate cost and general consumption, free of duty. But 
upon such British manufactures as come in competition with our 
own, duties should be placed so excessive, as to be practically pro- 
hibitory. At the same time, such articles should be admitted duty 
free, when produced by other countries. What we need is a dis- 
criminating tariff; — not a tariff on all articles, for revenue purposes ; 
nor a tariff against all foreign goods, for purposes of protection: 
but a discriminative tariff; — a tariff levying duties upon luxuries for 
revenue ; and upon British goods, exclusively, for protection. 

1st, Constitutionality of such a Tariff, 

That such a tariff is constitutional, is beyond question. It insti- 
tutes precisely such a regulation of commerce as was contemplated 
by the framers of the constitution. 

The regulation of commerce with foreign nations was one chief 
end, for which the Federal government was established. It is re- 
markable that this power has never been exercised in the manner 
contemplated by the framers of the Constitution. — Our commerce 
was at that time fettered by the prohibitory regulations of foreign 
powers, who shut us out from the markets of the world. It was 
proposed to confer the power to regulate commerce upon the Fed- 
eral government, that it might, by retaliatory legislation against 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 599 

particular countries, compel them to repeal their prohibitory enact- 
ments, and admit us to a reciprocity of traffic. It was not proposed 
to treat the entire foreign world as an unit ; — but to discriminate 
between those countries whose commercial intercourse with us is 
conducted upon a fair basis, equally advantageous to both countries, 
and those whose commercial system based upon monopoly, operates 
our injury. It was not proposed to give the power, in order to pro- 
tect our manufactures against all external competition, whatever, 
enabling them to put up prices to such an exorbitant standard, as to 
defeat the very end in view ; — but to protect our industry against 
the unfavorable competition of countries, whose superior capital, and 
restrictive policy places us at disadvantage. 

The present is one of those crises for which the framers of the 
constitution intended to provide, in conferring the power to regulate 
commerce upon the Federal government. The present exigency 
imperatively calls for the interposition of the government, to counter 
the commercial system by which England is pressing us on toward 
ruin. 

2d. Justice of such a Tariff. 

The course of England toward us demands retaliatory legislation. 

That power claims to have abandoned its restrictive legislation ; 
and it is loud in its call upon all other countries, to follow its ex- 
ample, and establish free trade. But these professions can only be 
characterized by the unclassical, but expressive word, — humbug ! 
England has only abandoned its restrictive policy, in so far as it is 
its interest to do so. It is willing to establish free trade, — in such 
articles of manufacture as it produces cheaper than all other coun- 
tries — in raw material for its factories — and in food for its opera- 
tives; — but in all else, its restrictive commercial policy remains 
intact. It is willing to import free of duty, wool, hides, cotton, and 
various other articles of raw material. It is even willing to allow 
shoes, cotton fabrics, and woolens, to be imported free of duty ; for 
these are articles it does not buy, but offers for sale. But is there 
any manufacture we can offer cheaper than it can be made in En- 
gland, which is suffered to be imported free of duty? Not one! 
England protects with a tariff — and a prohibitory tariff — every man- 
ufacture with which we can successfully compete ! 



600 the world's crisis. 

A few examples will illustrate the repressive selfish policy of En- 
gland. The people of England consume annually some $200,000,000 
worth of malt and spiritous liquors, and about $75,000,000 worth 
of snuff, and manufactured tobacco. That country has no grain, 
above the wants of the people, for the manufacture of liquors ; nor 
has it native grown tobacco. If free trade existed with England, 
with our natural advantages for their production, we should be able 
to supply the English market with both these commodities, making 
tobacco a staple of industry, and largely increasing the demand for 
grain. Our exports would be increased in value at least $150,000,- 
000 in these two articles, alone. Our profits, also, would be greatly 
enhanced ; since the cost of transportation upon manufactured ar- 
ticles would be diminished, while their value would be increased. — 
But Great Britain will neither buy of us manufactured tobacco, nor 
the manufactured product of our grain. It will buy our grain, and 
our crude tobacco ; but it reserves the profits of manufacture to 
itself, in both instances. Moreover, the consumption of tobacco is 
curtailed by an enormous custom-house duty laid upon it. Only 
$18,000,000 worth is imported; this pays, in revenue duties, over 
$32,000,000 ; it is then manufactured, and sold for nearly double 
its first cost and taxes. Liquors are almost excluded by exorbitant 
duties, levied to protect the home manufacture, on which the gov- 
ernment levies $90,000,000 of excise. The result is, that Great 
Britain only pays foreign countries some $25,000,000 for tobacco 
and distilled liquors. 

The same policy characterizes the entire commercial intercourse 
of Great Britain with other countries. — For instance, it has neither 
the ashes, nor the waste grease, to make soap ; but the importation 
of the manufactured article is discouraged, and the ashes and other 
raw material, which cost little, and yield little profit to the seller, 
are imported, that soap may be manufactured at home. — We might 
rectify our Petroleum at little cost, and send it abroad, at less 
charge, and in a more valuable form. But England will only buy 
the crude article, that it may be rectified there, and enough exported 
to pay for the cost of the raw material. — At least $50,000,000 of 
linseed oil is annually used in England in manufactures, and for 
paints ; but, instead of buying the oil, $15,000,000 worth of flax- 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. G01 

seed is imported, and manufactured into oil, sufficient for the home 
consumption, and for export abroad. — The same policy extends 
throughout. Importations of manufactured articles from abroad are 
discouraged. England will allow no other country the profits of 
manufacturing industry. It sells all it disposes of in a manufac- 
tured form, while it is willing to buy nothing but crude commodities. 
And because it allows these to be imported free of duty, it plumes 
itself as the champion of free trade, and insists that other countries 
ought, by reciprocity, to admit its manufactures free ! 

But let this pretension be tested. Let the United States proffer to 
Great Britain mutual free trade between the countries ; — and it will 
be decidedly rejected. Three reasons would prompt this rejection. 

In the first place, the British government derives the greater part 
of its revenue from taxes upon articles, which free trade would 
admit free of duty. If the taxes upon tobacco, liquors, and other 
articles were remitted, the aristocracy would be under the necessity 
of making up the deficit by a property tax ; — this they will never 
willingly do. 

In the second place, we should then share with Great Britain the 
profits of her commerce. Under a free trade system between the 
countries, the English people would buy of us $250,000,000 worth of 
liquors, tobacco, soap, petroleum, and other cheaply made manufac- 
tures, of which we do not now sell to the annual amount of $60,000,- 
000, all together. Under a system of free trade, the centralization of 
wealth in Great Britain would cease. That country would deal on equal 
terms with foreign nations, frankly receiving the products of their in- 
dustry in exchange for its own. But, now, its taxation levied upon the 
manufactured products of foreign countries, has caused the importa- 
tion of their products in a cheap crude form, and compels its people 
to consume them in lesser quantities ; so that the expenditure of the 
country is always less than its income, leaving an annual accumula- 
tion of a specie balance, to be used in loans and purchases of foreign 
bonds. A free consumption of foreign products in a manufactured 
form, would keep the balance of trade equal between England and 
the rest of the world, and prevent the vast aggregation of wealth 
which is now going forward. 



602 the 

A third reason must be remarked : The same policy which is 
sheltering the British aristocracy from taxation, and amassing the 
wealth of the world in that country, is increasing the profits of the 
British aristocracy of trade. If free trade existed, the English 
people would buy of the United States manufactured tobacco ; but, 
now, an English capitalist makes the profit of manufacturing. So, 
by purchasing grain instead of malt liquors, the British capitalist 
makes the profit of brewing ; and by importing flaxseed instead of 
linseed oil, a Briton realizes the profit of manufacture ; and so on 
throughout the circle. 

These three results of the present policy will prevent the astute 
British aristocracy from adopting a system of free trade, while it is 
possible to avoid it. 

It is needless to enlarge here upon the injustice of this commer- 
cial system to the world. It is sufficient to remark the manner in 
which it inflicts especial injury upon us, — injury so serious, as to 
justify, and demand, decisive retaliatory action. 

From the character of our industry, this system of commercial 
repression has borne more heavily upon us, than any other country. 
The taxes upon tobacco, liquors, and soap, for instance, do not affect 
European countries ; for their surface is too limited, and their popu- 
lation too dense, to permit them to produce, to any extent, the raw 
material for the manufacture of those articles. And so of other 
articles, whose raw material requires extensive surface to produce, 
but which are of cheap manufacture. The repression of the impor- 
tation of these articles bears with peculiar and excessive force upon 
our industry. Our extensive surface of fertile soil enables us to 
produce the raw material in unrivaled abundance ; and the cheap- 
ness of the manufacture makes it the best manufacturing investment, 
in a country where capital has always been scarce. In the produc- 
tion and manufacture of such articles, we might easily distance com- 
petition. But the repressive system of Great Britain has restricted 
our culture of tobacco, corn, and flax, up to the present issue. The 
Northern states have had no commodity, for which England would 
offer a steady and profitable market. With free trade, they would 
have sold several hundred millions annually of articles easily pro- 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 603 

duced, for which England has denied a market. England has ex- 
cluded products greater in value than those she has purchased of 
us ; and she still, by her policy, deprives us of a market for com- 
modities, that would double our exports. 

As the British government 13 repressing our manufactured pro- 
ducts, by denying them a. market, we ought, in justice to ourselves, 
to retaliate, by refusing a market to the manufactured products of 
British industry. Great Britain is our great industrial rival. Its 
policy has, from the beginning, been adverse to our interests. It 
has never imported anything from us, it could do without, or obtain 
elsewhere. It has excluded everything it could exclude, without 
positive loss. Cotton has been the only exception to its illiberal 
policy ; and it is now endeavoring to take the cotton supply from us! 

Certainly the policy of England claims from us no forbearance. 
We ought to adopt, without hesitation, or compunction, the policy 
necessary to protect our interests. The Federal government ought 
to regulate our commerce with Great Britain, in such a manner as 
to retaliate its injurious policy, and protect our interests from the 
baneful results of its commercial supremacy. 

3ti. Expediency of thus Regulating our Commerce with England, 
A discriminative tariff against the manufactures of Great Britain 
is not merely expedient, — that is too weak a word, — it is indispen- 
sable. It is the only method of crippling the industry of England, 
and protecting our own against it. 

An indiscriminate tariff upon the imports of all foreign countries, 
alike, inflicts no injury whatever upon the industry of England. 
Under such a tariff, superior energy, enterprise, and capital secure 
to England the same superiority in our markets over the competition 
of other countries, she would enjoy in the absence of any tariff 
whatever. But levy high duties upon English iron and steel, while 
that of Germany and Sweden is admitted free of duty ; and upon 
English cottons, and woolens, while those of France and Germany 
are admitted free of duty, — and we exclude her products from our 
market. We thus retaliate the injury her high duties upon tobacco, 
and liquors, etc., inflict upon us. The effect of the loss of her " best 
customer " upon the trade of England may easily be imagined. It 



604 

would exert a marked influence in diminishing her ability to com- 
pete with us in the cotton manufacture. 

But this discriminative tariff is not recommended so much as an 
aggressive measure against the commerce of England, as a defensive 
measure of imperative necessity. It is, indeed, the only method of 
protecting our manufacturing industry against the aggressive com- 
petition of England. 

There are three points of weakness in a general tariff, as a pro- 
tective measure. (1.) It causes the manufacturers whose interests 
are protected to raise their prices to the limit fixed by the duty : this 
generates a general rise of prices, enhancing the cost of production 
to the extent of the protection afforded; and the tariff becomes nu- 
gatory, as a protective measure. This effect can only be prevented 
by the oppression of whole classes of community, in keeping their 
prices below the standard of protected articles. — (2.) While a gen- 
eral tariff is injurious to the general prosperity of the country, it 
really has no effect in excluding the goods of a foreign rival, and 
preventing a glut of the market. The rise of the home manufac- 
turer's prices which it promotes, enables the foreign shipper to im- 
pose his duties upon the consumer of the goods, leaving his profits 
intact. Consequently, the tariff imposes no real charge upon the 
foreign shipper, whose profit is the same as if no tariff existed. 
The glut of foreign goods in the market is just as great with, as 
without a general tariff. — (3.) A general tariff cannot prevent a 
competitor possessed of superior capital from crushing the industry 
of a rival, by making a moderate sacrifice of profits for the purpose. 

Now to apply these facts to the case before us. 

(1.) In a competition with England a general tariff would be 
nugatory. — We wish to protect three interests at least, — cotton, 
woolen, and iron manufactures. These are all commodities of very 
general consumption; and a tariff placed on them all would so raise 
the scale of prices in the country, as to render the protection nu- 
gatory, through the enhanced cost of production. What we need is, 
a tariff which affords efficient protection, without promoting a rise 
of prices on the part of American manufacturers. We propose to 
promote cheap prices throughout the country, in order that our 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. G05 

manufacturers may be able to produce their goods at the lowest rate 
of cost: we do not wish to overturn our whole system, by enabling 
a few manufacturers to raise their prices to an extortionate rate. 
We want a tariff — not to enable a few manufacturers to make for- 
tunes, by extorting extravagant prices for their goods — but to induce 
greater numbers to engage in manufacturing. Our desideratum is, a 
tariff that will afford efficient protection against foreign competition, 
and, at the same time, prevent our manufacturers from raising the 
price of their goods to an extravagant point. 

This aim is attained in the discriminative tariff proposed. It will 
not allow American manufacturers to raise their prices immoder- 
ately; because, though British goods are excluded, the goods of 
other countries come in free of duty. The manufacturers of other 
countries than England cannot compete with ours in our own mark- 
ets, when our prices are at a moderate cheapness. They are in the 
same condition as our own, — struggling with British monopoly for 
existence. Great Britain competes with them, as with us, in the home 
market, despite of import duties. They do not manufacture enough, 
or more than enough, for home demand ; and they would not com- 
pete with us in our market, unless prices rose above a proper stan- 
dard. If our manufacturers attempted to inflate prices unduly, then 
the countries of Europe would import British goods for their own 
consumption, and ship their manufactures to our ports. These ship- 
ments would bring prices down to a normal standard — when they 
would cease. Such a tariff would act as a regulator of prices, and 
maintain the cheapness of production so essential to success. 

(2.) In the next place, a general tariff would not prevent Great 
Britain from glutting our market with goods; nor even from under- 
selling us at a sacrifice, for the purpose of breaking down our in- 
dustry. The immense capital of England will enable her to prevent 
the development of our manufacturing industry under any tariff we 
can devise, which allows her commodities equal access to our ports 
with those of other countries. She is able to offer advantages of 
credit to purchasers, our manufacturers cannot afford. As soon as 
English manufacturers should see a resolution to enter into resolute 
competition with them, they would throw their surplus stocks upon 



60G 

our market, — stocks, which simply represent profit, the goods sent 
to other countries having paid expenses, — and which they could give 
away without absolute loss. They might store their staple goods 
in our ports in advance of the demand, and crush out our manu- 
factures, by glutting the market with goods offered on a long credit, 
and at merely nominal prices. They would act upon the policy of 
opposition lines of stages and steamboats, where a capitalist or 
company will, for a time, carry freight and passengers at a dead 
loss, to drive a competitor from the trade, and maintain a monopoly. 
We must expect this; — and the accumulated capital of English mo- 
nopolists would be irresistible. Their trade with other countries 
gives them an annual profit, which, if sunk in a competition with us, 
would overwhelm our industry. 

We could not resist their hostile competition under a tariff which 
placed them on an equality with other nations: for we could not 
establish too exorbitant a tariff, without deranging all the prices of 
the country, and disorganizing industry; and a reasonable tariff 
would not shut out their determined competition. Indeed, where 
the American manufacturers raised their prices to the tariff level, 
as they always do, no tariff, however exorbitant, would afford pro- 
tection against British rivalry. By sinking fifty millions of annual 
profit, Great Britain might, even now, crush our manufactures of 
wool, iron, and cotton ; underselling them in our markets, in spite 
of our present exorbitant duties. 

But the proposed tariff absolutely prevents British competition. 
Under a general tariff, the duties are limited by the fact that manu- 
facturers will abuse it, by raising their prices to the highest limit. 
Consequently, the tariff scale cannot be fixed high enough to prevent 
a determined competitor from glutting the market with goods, or 
even making a sacrifice, and selling, despite the tariff, at prices so 
low, as to crush the protected industry. But under a discriminative 
tariff, the goods admitted duty free would prevent the enhancement 
of prices : consequently, the tariff against British goods may be 
placed at a point that would exclude them altogether. We have 
nothing to dread from the competition of other countries. They 
may regulate the market, but they cannot depress it. We need no 
protection against the iron of Germany and Sweden, nor their 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 607 

cotton and woolen goods. We need protection against England 
alone; and the tariff ought to affect England alone, that the pro- 
tection may be complete. 

A discriminative tariff levied against the industry of the rival, 
affords the only efficient protection to home industry. It answers 
all the ends for which a tariff is framed, without any of the counter- 
balancing disadvantages of a general tariff. It excludes the rival 
altogether from the market, if necessary ; while it prevents the home 
manufacturer from raising the price of his goods. It maintains an 
active demand, fair prices, and cheap production, — the three essen- 
tials to successful industry. 



The measures already enumerated will be sufficient to enable us 
to outrival England in cheap production, and disappoint her hostile 
competition. Their adoption will enable us to bear away the palm 
in the cotton manufacture, and will, within a few years, secure to us 
commercial supremacy. 



603 THE WORLDS CRISIS. 



PART III. 

THE ADVANTAGE, AND THE NECESSITY OF ADOPT- 
ING THE POLICY SUGGESTED. 

CHAPTER I. 

BENEFITS OF THIS POLICY. 

The adoption of all the measures suggested in the previous chap- 
ter is necessary to secure the full benefits of the policy. A partial 
change of our policy may prevent industrial ruin, and enable us to 
regain a degree of our former prosperity : we may perhaps resume 
our former position as satellite of the British industrial system, 
until Britain shall have fostered her "pet" fields into such flourish- 
ing production, as to enable her to dispense with our cotton supply. 
But this will only defer the evil day. And it will foster the British 
centralization of industry, so full of menace to our age. 

Our only safety lies in wresting from England the cotton manu- 
facture; and this can only be accomplished by the adoption of the 
entire series of measures proposed in the last chapter. We must 
suffer the South to re-establish a stable system of industry; we must 
build up manufactures in the West ; remodel our tariff, — establishing 
free trade in all articles of general consumption, and levying pro- 
hibitory duties upon British manufactures that compete with our 
own ; establish a specie currency ; levy our revenues by a property 
tax ; free our cotton industry from taxation ; and prohibit the ex- 
portation of bonds. 

The adoption of these measures will secure to us a career of 
prosperity such as we have never yet attained. 

Sect. 1. — The Rapid Development of our Manufactures would 
soon wrest the commercial supremacy from england. 
Our manufactures would have two eras of progress : 
1. The first, in which they would be engaged in supplying our own 

market. 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. 609 

2. The second : where, our own demand supplied, they would be 
competing with those of England in the markets of the world. 

In both these eras, the measures proposed would secure to our 
manufactures decisive advantages. 

I. First Era : Advantages of our Manufactures in Our own Market, under 
Measures Proposed. 

The conditions of the competition are, — free trade in our own 
markets with all countries except England; the goods of that coun- 
try being excluded by a discriminative tariff. 

The first fact to be noticed in this connection is, that our cotton 
manufacture would have the advantage of all others in this compe- 
tition ; and, consequently, capital would be invested more largely 
in it than any other. 

Several causes would give the cotton manufacture greater advan- 
tages in competition with foreign industry. 

The cotton manufacture would have greater advantages in respect 
of raw material. Continental Europe has native iron, and wool, 
and, in this regard, would compete on somewhat favorable terms 
with our woolen and iron manufactures. But European countries 
purchase our cotton in Liverpool, at an advanced price, which makes 
it cost at their mills four cents per pound more than it would cost 
delivered at our mills, located in the West. Consequently, their iron 
and woolen manufactures might be offered in our markets at a price 
relatively much lower than they could afford to sell their cotton 
goods. 

Another fact would give the cotton manufacture an advantage 
over other branches of our industry. The countries of Continental 
Europe now export some iron and woolen manufactures ; but their 
cotton manufactures are inadequate to the supply of their own 
wants. If they exported cottons, they would be under the necessity 
of supplying the deficit by importations from England. Prices would 
have to rise very considerably, before they would export cotton 
goods to the American market. 

The exemption of cotton manufactures from taxation would in- 
crease their advantages over other branches of home manufacture : 
39 



610 the world's crisis. 

the cotton manufacturer could afford to sell his goods at one per 
cent, lower profit than others, and yet realize the same net returns. 
In effect, while he could afford to sell at a lower profit, his scale 
of profit would actually be higher than any other branch of manu- 
facture, owing to his greater advantage in respect of raw material, 
and also to the more feeble competition of foreign countries. These 
decisive advantages would give the cotton manufacture the prece- 
dence over any other, and cause capital to embark in it rapidly. 

Practically, our cotton manufactures would have little foreign 
competition. For, though free trade would exist with Continental 
Europe, the balance of trade would afford the most efficient protec- 
tion. The increased home demand for cotton and breadstuff's, would 
diminish our exports of produce very materially. As we no longer 
exported bonds nor specie, our imports would only equal what re- 
mained of our exports, after paying the interest on our foreign 
debt: and this surplus would, in the first place, be invested in ar- 
ticles of prime necessity, as drugs, and tropical luxuries ; next, in 
iron and woolen goods, which w T ould yield a larger profit : so that 
little or nothing would remain to be invested in cotton importations. 

Our cotton manufactures would be stimulated by an active de- 
mand and high prices, which would continue, until the embarkation 
of capital in the business regulated the price, by home competition. 
The rapid embarkation of capital in the business would increase this 
manufacture, so that at an early day it would supply the home 
demand. 

As soon as the West became actively engaged in prosecuting the 
cotton manufacture, that industry would foster every other branch 
of enterprise. The iron and coal interests would feel the stimulus, 
in the increased demand for machinery : agriculture would find in the 
mills a home demand, that would yield to the farmer far better re- 
turns than the European market. Moreover, the increased home 
consumption of our products would so diminish our exports, as to 
secure all branches of our manufacture from active foreign compe- 
tition : the balance of trade would prevent us from importing 
largely : all branches of home industry would be fostered by the 
almost exclusive possession of our home market. The development 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. Oil 

of the cotton manufacture would foster every other branch of 
industry. 

In a few years, our industry would be in a most flourishing con- 
dition. Our cotton industry would flourish pre-eminently, and our 
other branches of manufacture would have a vigor beyond all former 
precedent. Our cotton manufactures would soon oversupply the 
home market. They would then enter upon the second stage of 
development, and enter into competition with British goods in the 
markets of the world. 

II. Second Era : Advantages of our Manufactures oyer those of England in 
the Markets of the World, under the Proposed Measures. 

It would still be necessary to shut out British goods from our own 
market, by a prohibitory tariff. Otherwise, they would adopt Han- 
nibal's policy of crushing Rome in Italy, and attempt to ruin our 
manufactures, by flooding our country with goods, even at an annual 
sacrifice of several hundred million dollars. We would have nothing 
to fear from fair and open competition ; but everything from the 
hostile expenditure of accumulated capital, in a determined effort to 
break us down. 

It may be asked how we could hope to compete with England in 
foreign markets, when we are under the necessity of protecting our 
industry from her competition in our own country. The explana- 
tion is simple. England might ruin our manufactures, by throwing 
her products at a heavy sacrifice upon our markets ; and she could 
u ifp rd this sacrifice, in a single country. But, if prevented from 
striking us at home, England could not resort to the same tactics in 
foreign markets. British manufacturers could not afford to sell at 
a loss in all the markets of the world. If they should attempt it, 
the benefits would be found too slight to compensate for the sacrifice; 
for, secure in the possession of our own market, our mills would not 
be injured by a temporary check to the expansion of their trade. 
With our home market protected, British manufacturers would be 
under the necessity of meeting us in foreign markets in fair and 
equal competition. They would sell at the lowest scale of profits ; 
but they could not afford to sell at a loss. The competitor that 
could manufacture cheapest would bear away the palm. 



612 the world's crisis. 

The following careful estimate of the comparative advantages of 
the English, and the Western manufacturer, displays clearly the 
great advantages of the American competitor. 

1. The Western manufacturer could manufacture at less cost than 
his English competitor. 

(1.) The two countries would both be upon a specie basis, and, in 
this respect, would stand upon an equality. But in every other 
particular, the advantage would rest altogether with the Western 
competitor. 

(2.) The Western manufacturer would have a cheaper raw material. 

In making an estimate, it will be taken for granted that, when all 
his supplies are cheap, at specie and free trade prices, and he is 
freed from all taxation, direct, or indirect, the Southern planter can 
grow cotton as cheap as it can be grown in Brazil or India, and can 
furnish it as cheaply in the English market. Then, the cotton of 
the English manufacturer would cost him the price in the American 
port, with the charges thence to the English mill. 

We have, here, reliable data from which to estimate the relative 
cost of cotton to the Western, and the English manufacturer. From 
1840 to 1850, the Liverpool cotton brokers charged for cotton, an 
average price of 2.95 cents per pound higher than the cost in the 
American ports. This advance represents the cost of ocean freights 
and insurance ; the Liverpool charges ; and the profits of the trade. 
To this must be added the freight and insurance from Liverpool to 
Manchester ; which will make the cost at Manchester over three* 

* The comparative cost of delivering a bale of cotton from the Southern plan- 
tation to the English, and the Western mill, may be seen in the following table 
of charges, based upon the prices of 1852. 

Cost of cotton at the English mill. 

Net average value of a cotton bale of 500 lbs, at plantation - - $45.95 
Average charge, at former rates of freight and insurance on a 

bale, from the plantation to the seaport ... - $2.00 

Drayage, storage, and extra labor for mending bales, etc. - .80 

Commission on sale, 2J per cent, on $50 - 1.25 

4.05 



Cost of bale in port $50.00 



BENEFITS OF TUE POLICY SUGGESTED. 613 



cents per pound higher than the price in the American ports. Then, 
if the cost of conveying cotton from the plantation to the Western 
mill were no greater than the freight to the seaport, the Western 
manufacturer would obtain his cotton three cents a pound cheaper 
than the English. But it costs somewhat more, — perhaps half a 
cent a pound, or $2.50 per bale ; which makes the cost of cotton at 
the Western mill two and a half cents per pound cheaper than at the 
English. When cotton is worth ten cents a pound in New Orleans, 
it will cost 10J at the Western mill, and over 13 cents at Manches- 
ter. The Western manufacturer would have an advantage of 25 per 
cent, in the cost of his raw material ; — an advantage which, in the 
manufacture of 2000,000,000 pounds of cotton, would amount to 
$50,000,000. 

(3.) The Western manufacturer would have the cheaper labor. 

The Western operative might live at less than half the cost of the 
English ; since he is in the midst of an agricultural region, and would be 
entirely free from government taxation upon the articles he consumes. 

The price of wheat in England ranges from $1.10 to $1.60 per 
bushel : the average rate may be fixed at $1.30. In a normal con- 
Ocean freight, insurance, charges in Liverpool, and profits on 

business, as represented in the average advance of 2.95 

cents per pound $14.75 

Freight and charges from Liverpool to English factory - - 1.00 

15.75 

Total cost of bale of cotton at mill $65.73 

This is 13 3-20 cents per pound. 

The cost at the Western mill, is as follows : 

Cost of bale at plantation $45.95 

Average cost of freight and insurance (at former rates) from 

the plantation to Western cotton depot $4.50 

Dray age and storage .60 

Commission on sale - 1.25 

Freight, etc., from cotton depot to mill - <■ - - - 1.00 

7.35 

Total cost of bale of cotton at Western mill $53.30 

This is lOf cents a pound, being just 2 29-60, or 2? cents a pound less than 
the cost at Manchester. 



614 the world's crisis. 

dition of industry, the English market regulates the price of our 
breadstuff's : wheat is worth in the West, the English price, less the 
charges of transportation and the profits of commerce. — Probably 
Detroit, in respect of distance from the coast, may be taken as an 
average of the points whence we ship ; and the cost of freight from 
that city may be taken as the average rate of freight from the West 
to England. The cost of shipping wheat from Detroit to England 
is 54 cents per bushel; so that, if we make no deduction for the 
profits of speculation, when wheat is worth §1.30 in Liverpool, it is 
worth 76 cents* in Detroit. But wheat could be delivered as cheaply 
(from the farm) at the Western factory town, as at Detroit. Con- 

*The following tables give the comparative charges upon Wheat, delivered 
in Liverpool, and at the Western mill : 

Price of three tons, or 100 bushels of wheat, delivered by the farmer at the rail- 
road depot $70.00 

Charges on same to Liverpool: — 
Commission of agent employed to purchase, at 2\ per cent, upon 

$70.00 $1.75 

Freight to Detroit, at average distance of 100 miles, at the old 

price of 1 J cents a ton per mile 4.50 

Fire insurance at Detroit, \ per cent. .17 

Freight from Detroit to New York, at 29 cents - - - 29.00 

Lake insurance .37 

Brokerage, weighing, screening, etc. ----- 1-05 

Freight to Liverpool, and primage - - - - - - 13.15 

Ocean insurance --------- .50 

British duty, and dues -------- 3.91 

Master porterage - , - .65 

Fire insurance on quay -------- .04 

Carriage samples .01 £ 

Porterage, weighing, use of sack ties, etc. - - - - 1.31 

Bank commissions -------- .15 

Commissions and guaranty - - - - - - -3.07 

Interest on cost, and charges .67 

$60.30 



Total cost of wheat in England - - - - $130.30 

Price of wheat delivered at depot $70.00 

Commission on purchase $2.75 

Freight to factory town 4.50 

Whole cost at factory village - - - $76.25 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. 615 

sequently it would be worth in the Western factory town but 76 
cents, when worth in Liverpool $1.30. The provisions of the En- 
glish operative (taking wheat as the representative of general prices) 
would be 70 per cent, higher than those of the Western. 

Furthermore, the cheap luxuries of the English operative, — his 
tobacco, his beer, etc., — are enhanced by government taxation to 
three* or four times their normal value. 

The enhancement of all prices, by the charges of transportation, 
and by government taxation, compel the English manufacturer to 
pay his operatives, in order to their subsistence, much higher wages 
than would be necessary in America. The average rate of wages 
for men of ordinary industry employed in English factories, is $7.50 
per week ; for women $4.12J cents a week. The rate of wages in 
New England — where prices have always been enhanced, by trans- 
portation, an inflated currency, and speculation — has always been 
much lower than this. Five dollars a week for men, and three dol- 
lars for women were the average rates. These rates, at low specie 
prices, would subsist Western operatives in greater comfort than has 
ever yet fallen to the lot of that class of labor. Those rates would 
be too low as a permanent standard ; but they would answer in the 
crisis of our competition with England. When the victory was won 
they might be raised. 

(4.) The western manufacturer would have lower taxes. 

He would be entirely free from government taxes; while his En- 
glish competitor pays taxes on every business transaction, and an 
income tax on his profits, besides heavy poor rates, and a tax for 
the support of the established church. 

The English manufacturer, burdened with taxation, and paying 
25 per cent, more for raw material, 70 per cent, more for provisions, 
and 50 per cent, higher wages, could not possibly manufacture so 
cheaply as his Western competitor. 

2. But this does not show the extent of our advantages. If the 
cost of manufacture were the same in both countries, the Western 
manufacturer could still overbear his British competitor. For, 

* For the oppressiveness of English taxation, see page 483-4. 



616 

owing to his freedom from taxation, the greater cheapness of living, 
and the lower price of investments, he could afford to work for lesser 
profits. 

3. The same is true of American merchants, and shippers, and 
the entire industrial class engaged in transportation. These classes, 
being relieved by the property tax in great measure from taxation, 
and all articles of consumption being lower than in the English mar- 
ket, could afford to work cheaper than the same classes in England. 
The American laborer, with lower wages, could subsist in greater 
comfort. The American merchant, with a lower scale of prices, 
could yet realize the same clear profits. 

The force of all these advantages would be decisive : British cot- 
ton manufactures would be driven by the American from the world's 
markets. 

Our iron and woolen manufactures would have no advantage of 
the English in respect of the cost of raw material. If they merely 
maintained themselves in possession of the home market, they would 
be much more prosperous than they have ever been, heretofore. 
But they, also, would possess advantages which would enable them 
to compete successfully with British industry, in foreign markets. 
They would pay a lower rate of wages than prevails in England: 
the cost of living would be less : the burden of taxation would be 
lighter. They could manufacture cheaper than England, and could 
afford to sell at lower profits. They would at least be able to com- 
pete on equal terms with British goods, and divide with them the 
market. 

Let a wise policy be adopted, — and it will not be long ere the 
United States, manufacturing its own raw material, will become the 
great manufacturer for the world. 

Sect. 2. — Advantages of our Industrial Supremacy. 

I. Advantages to Ourselves. 

1st. Industrial Benefits. 

Every business of the country would enjoy unprecedented pros- 
perity. 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. 617 

Our agriculture would no longer be depressed, by selling low to 
a foreign market, and buying high from a foreign producer. The 
injurious industrial system now prevailing, which oppresses the agri- 
culturist by compelling him to support out of his earnings a multi- 
tude of speculators engaged in carrying his produce to a distant 
market and bringing his supplies from a distant producer, would be 
done away. The agriculturist would sell to the consumer at his 
door, and would purchase his staple articles of necessity, almost 
at prime cost. Selling higher, and buying cheaper than now, 
our farming population would enjoy a prosperity now hardly con- 
ceivable. 

Every section, and every interest, would partake of the general 
prosperity. 

The South would whiten with fields of cotton ; and active pros- 
perous industry would soon heal the wounds of war. 

Our Western prairies and plains would be covered with countless 
flocks and herds, supplying material for our continually growing 
manufactures. The farmer, the planter, the grazier, the miner of 
iron and coal, — would all find in our manufactures the ready and 
profitable market necessary to stimulate their industry, and convert 
farm, plantation, mine, and plain, into departments of the great na- 
tional hive of industry. 

The marine states would feel the impulse. The commerce of the 
world would soon be ours. Our sails would whiten every ocean. 
Our seaboard would be dotted with cities vocal with the hum of com- 
merce, and dockyards ringing with unaccustomed activity. 

Our forests would echo with the sound of the axe and the saw, 
preparing material for the improvements going forward in every 
part of the country. Cities, factories, farm houses, steamboats, 
ships, railways, would busy thousands with their construction. 
Stagnation would be forgotten. Every branch of industry, every 
department of enterprise would flourish with our new prosperity, — 
a prosperity that would know no reaction, be blasted by no crisis, and 
never wither into decay ; for it would be founded upon the natural 
laws of industry, and the industrial development of the nations 
would enlarge it more and more forever. 



618 the wokld's crisis. 

2d. Social Advantages. 

The new industrial era would correct the morbid tendencies which 
are now poisoning our social life. Business would flow in regular 
channels. Speculative excitement would cease with the abnormal 
industrial system which gave it birth. Producer and consumer 
would be placed in juxtaposition, and the multitudes engaged in 
speculative traffic would turn their attention to productive indus- 
try ; — and with this industrial revolution, would die out the mania 
which is sapping the foundations of social life. Excitement would 
be succeeded by tranquillity, and we might hope to see again the 
sober thought, and calm purpose, which marked the life of our fore- 
fathers. 

The new industrial era would also counteract the tendency so 
apparent now, to sink the laboring class in the scale of being, by 
reducing wages to a standard inadequate to the supply of their 
wants. Nothing so brutalizes man as extreme poverty. The bony 
touch of Destitution palsies Aspiration. Despondency dwells with 
Want, and Degradation and Vice soon become tenants of the dreary 
home of Penury. But then the standard of wages might be in- 
creased, while the price of all articles of consumption was lowered. 
Labor would receive better returns for toil than it has ever realized 
before. Comfort and home enjoyment would be within the reach of 
all. With abundant employment at adequate wages, Hope would 
revisit the hearts which Despair has plunged into indolence and de- 
bauchery, and awaken them to eifort and diligence. 

The tendency which is filling our cities with miserables would be 
counteracted. The massed population of cities is an indication of 
depressed industry. Men do not congregate in cities from love of 
their smoke ; but because the stagnation of industry, elsewhere, 
drives them in desperation to those industrial centers. The un- 
happy beings — to whom agriculture and village life offers no employ- 
ment, flock, by the natural gravitation of misery, to cities. There, 
unable to find steady employment from the oversupply of labor, they 
crowd into cellars and old dilapidated dwellings, living in squalor 
until death removes them, to make way for a new shoal of unfortu- 
nates. Let business grow active in village, town, and country, and 



BENEFITS OF TI1E POLICY SUGGESTED. 619 

the tide of misery drifting toward the cities, will be stopped ; and 
other thousands will be drawn away from the dens where they now 
are hiding in sin and wretchedness, to fill the many avenues of in- 
dustry the new era will open to all. Let the business activity of our 
cities increase, as increase it would, and all who remained within 
their limits would obtain comfortable subsistence. The cities might, 
for a time, diminish in population ; but they would grow in size and 
wealth. The depletion of the pauper population, inhabiting lanes 
and tumble-down houses, will be no loss to the cities they infest, nor 
to the property holders in whose houses they sty. Their tenements 
will give place to a better class of buildings, containing fewer occu- 
pants, but yielding better rents. 

Cities are not necessarily hotbeds of sin. The wretched do not 
become outlaws from choice, but, first, from necessity. Work is 
sought in vain, before despair leads to crime. Want of employment 
causes destitution, and destitution vice. Wretchedness is the parent 
of Crime, and enforced idleness the cause of all. — Men are not more 
vicious for being massed in cities. It is not contact that produces 
demoralization. Were there work and a comfortable subsistence for 
all, cities might become the centers of virtue. The misery and de- 
moralization of the poor will pass away with the vicious industrial 
system which has cradled together the twin sisters, Want and Crime. 

Our manufacturing system, also, would be renovated. Hitherto, 
British competition has driven our mill owners to the almost exclusive 
employment of female labor. This system has promoted enforced vir- 
ginity, and wrecked the happiness, if not the virtue of a large propor- 
tion of our female population. But then, our manufactures would no 
longer be cars of Juggernaut, immolating the happiness and peace of 
the victims devoted to their service. Their increased advantages would 
justify higher wages, and admit of the employment of whole families. 
Flourishing manufactures would consist with the well-being of the 
operatives, and the true principles of social life. 

The regenerating influence of the new system of industry would 
be felt upon the whole face of society. Business, freed from excite- 
ment, would leave the rich thought and leisure for the cultivation 
of morals and intellect : the poor would have heart and means for 



620 the world's crisis. 

self-improvement. The factory would be the seat of cheerful, con- 
tented, virtuous labor : the cities, ceasing to be lazar-houses of 
wretchedness, would become busy hives of happy industry. 

3d. Our Political Benefits. 

The sectional animosities which have grown up out of our indus- 
trial system would be buried in its grave. Community of interest 
would link the West and South in cordial amity. Our commercial 
grandeur would satisfy even the grasping avarice, and boundless 
ambition of New England. Content to bestow its energies in their 
normal channel, — commercial enterprise — that section would no 
longer seek to stir up strife as a means of securing government 
patronage. As the commercial agent of the West and the South, 
it would cease to be the Ate of discord, becoming, instead, the cor- 
dial friend of both the other sections. 

The constitutional questions which have distracted the country 
would be set at rest forever. Experience, the sole teacher from 
whose judgments there is no appeal, would have decided the issue, 
and set its seal upon the verdict, from which man would never again 
appeal : Experience would have proved that the interference of the 
government in the internal concerns of the country is ruinous to the 
industry it aims to foster, and promotive of ceaseless bickering and 
strife. The errors, the crimes, the sufferings, which mark the past 
history of our country, and which we have endeavored to trace, 
would make the record an eternal memorial of the ruinous conse- 
quences of centralization, and win our country to the doctrine of 
State-rights Republicanism forever. The great Truth would be 
settled, that Industry must he left to flow in its natural channels, 
undisturbed by governmental interference; and, thenceforth, Repub- 
licanism would be safe from the jars and jealousies which Centraliza- 
tion must always promote. 

II. Advantages to the World. 

The whole world would participate in the benefits of our commer- 
cial supremacy. Its industry, its social life, and its political condi- 
tion, would all feel the impulse of our beneficent influence. 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. 621 

1st. Advantages Derived to the World's Industry. 

1. The first advantage would arise from the breaking down of 
British centralization of commerce. 

That commerce is based upon the exchange of raw produce for 
British goods, — in violation of the first principles of commercial* 
exchange. Our ascendancy would break down that system, and 
inaugurate a commerce based upon correct principles, — consisting 
of the exchange of manufactured products between countries of the 
Temperate zone, and of the manufactures of the Temperate zone for 
the luxuries of the Tropics. We should not need to import either 
raw material or provisions, as England does ; and we should trade 
with other countries upon a fair basis, instead of oppressing their 
industry, by refusing to take any except raw products. The traffic 
in raw products exchanged for manufactures — so oppressive of the 
countries which engage in it, and so pernicious to socialf life 
through the excitement it is generating — would cease. 

2. We should also benefit the industry of the world by establishing 
free trade. 

Free trade can never exist, while the commercial system inaugu- 
rated by England endures. That country seeks to monopolize the 
manufactures of the v hole world. It leaves no branch of industry 
to the uninterrupted enterprise of other countries. It never asks 
whether it possesses natural advantages for prosecuting any branch 
of manufactures, but seeks, by dint of capital and energy, to mo- 
nopolize it, and crush, even at a pecuniary sacrifice, the competition 
of countries which have greater natural advantages, but less capital. 
England thus comes in competition with the industry of every 
country, and seeks to supplant upon its native soil. She thus 
assumes the attitude of a public enemy, — the common adversary of 
every country. She is willing to receive nothing in exchange for her 
products, but raw products, gold, and promises to pay. She taboos 
the mechanical industry of every other country, and labors, not only 
to shut it out of the markets of the world, but to crush it even in 
the home market. Her career is an offensive war against the in- 
dustry of all nations. 

* See ante, pages 255-263. f See ante, pages 292-295. 



622 THE world's crisis. 

The aggressive industry of England compels other countries to 
lay restrictions upon importations, in order to compel economy of 
consumption, and thus maintain, as nearly as possible, the balance 
of trade, and, in some measure, protect their own industry. Under 
the circumstances, protection of home industry against British com- 
petition is imperatively necessary. Any other policy is suicidal. 
The aggregation of wealth in the hands of Britain is so enormous, 
that the industry of no country can maintain itself against a com- 
petition in its own market, waged with all the might of British cap- 
ital. But the nations have erred in not restricting their tariffs to 
British goods, instead of including all the world in restrictions, 
necessary against England alone. 

The nations also find it necessary to restrict their commerce with 
England, in order to check as far as possible the centralization of 
wealth that is going forward, through the unfair system of traffic 
established by Great Britain. British free trade is all a pretense. 
The British government shuts out the commodities of all countries 
that would materially increase the national expenditure, and prevents, 
by high tariffs, her people from buying enough of foreign* com- 
modities to equalize the exports of the country. The trade balance, 
consequently, is always inf favor of Great Britain ; other countries 
are constantly paying their deficit in bonds, or in specie, which is 
loaned abroad; — and thus England is becoming the annuitant of the 
world. 

But none of these reasons for jealousy would exist, as against us. 
We should not attempt to engross all manufactures in our hands, 
assailing all the manufactures of other countries in their own mar- 
kets : nor would we centralize the wealth of the world in our hands, 
by checking our consumption of foreign commodities, so as to keep 
the balance of trade in our favor. We should inaugurate free trade, 
in fact. Our commerce would be based upon normal principles of 
equal justice. Our industry would complement the industry of 
other countries, by offering the mechanical products which we could 

* See ante, pages 599-603. 

f For an explanation of the causes which leave a trade balance in favor of 
Great Britain, while the value of the imports exceeds the declared value of the 
exports, see ante page. 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. G23 

manufacture cheaper than they ; and we would receive in exchange 
commodities which they could produce cheaper than we. The many 
manufactures which it would be less profitable for us to engage in, 
we should leave to other countries, and let them constitute the basis 
of exchange. There would be no centralization, no rivalry, no con- 
flict, — no necessity for other countries to protect their industry 
against us by enormous tariffs. By common consent, other countries 
would leave to us those branches of manufactures in which our 
position gives us pre-eminence: we should leave to them those 
branches for which nature gives us no decided advantage. An 
equal and friendly exchange would promote the prosperity of all. 
Free trade is the true policy for all countries, and experience 
would soon make it apparent. We might, at first, be under the 
necessity of forcing free trade, by retaliatory legislation. Europe 
might choose tc continue the policy of importing raw cotton and 
manufacturing it for home consumption ; imposing prohibitory duties 
upon our goods, in order to maintain their feeble cotton industry. 
But we should soon break down this system, and obtain free 
markets for our goods. We might offer a free market to those 
countries w T hich would admit our products free of duty, levying 
discriminative duties upon the commodities of those who refused 
our proffer. Such an offer would not be made in vain. The ex- 
clusive possession of our market would be of great advantage to 
any country engaged in close rivalry with others. Some country 
would readily perceive the advantage of sacrificing the insignificant 
and puny interest that came in competition with our industry, to the 
advancement of other, and far more important branches of enter- 
prise. And when one country adopted free trade with us, others 
would be compelled, in self-defense, to follow the example. For 
the country which entered into a free trade treaty with us would 
have two advantages over its European rivals : it would be able to 
sell its commodities in our market much higher profits ; and, by 
obtaining our commodities at a cheaper rate, the cost of manufacture 
would be so much lowered, as to give it a decided advantage over 
its rivals. Manufacturing cheaper, and selling higher in our mar- 
kets, the free trade country would be able to undersell the competi- 
tors in every other market. The countries which maintained the 






624 the world's crisis. 

tariff system would soon find themselves falling behind; and ere long, 
the whole world would be compelled to adopt free trade, as the only 
means of maintaining the necessary cheapness of production. 

The artificial restraints which tariffs impose upon commerce exert 
the most baneful influence upon commerce, and upon social life. 
They restrict commerce : they dwarf industry by inducing countries 
to engage in branches of enterprise, for which they have no natural 
advantages, under the stimulus of government protection ; instead 
of concentrating their energies upon those branches of industry, for 
which nature has given them superior advantages : they oppress the 
laboring classes of every country, by imposing artificial prices upon 
articles of consumption wholly out of proportion to the standard of 
wages. The suffering and demoralization so universally prevalent, 
are, in great measure, owing to the restrictions upon industry, and 
the high prices, caused by tariffs. The establishment of free trade 
would be a most important step in the progress to a new era of 
industry, and social progress. 

3. We should benefit the Tropical regions, by stimulating their 
industry, beyond all example. 

The commercial supremacy of England stimulates Tropical indus- 
try very little. That country requires such quantities of breadstuffs 
and raw material from countries of the Temperate zone, that it can 
afford comparatively little demand for tropical products of luxurious 
consumption ; and the depressed condition in which the British 
monopoly of manufactures has kept the industry of other countries, 
has prevented them from increasing greatly their consumption of 
tropical luxuries. Indeed, England has not chosen to stimulate 
Tropical production to a very great* extent ; for, the ability of her 

* This remark applies to the normal products of* the Tropics, — articles of lux- 
urious consumption. Britain has, of late, endeavored to subsidize the industry 
of the Tropics in aid of her manufactures. But this is turning their industry 
in a wrong direction, and employing them to strengthen her erratic system of 
centralization. As we have seen, every country should manufacture! its own 
raw material ; and as the Tropics are not adapted to manufactures, they should 
never turn their attention to the production of raw material, but concentrate 
their industry upon the growth of luxurious articles of consumption. More- 

•j- See Ante, page 



BENEFITS OF THE POLICY SUGGESTED. G25 

customers to purchase being limited, she preferred to supply their 
markets, as far as possible, with the products of her own industry. 

But it will be vitally important to our career to stimulate Tropi- 
cal production. This, alone, can prevent the concentration of 
wealth in our hands, as now in England. We shall import neither 
provisions nor raw material ; we shall also produce for ourselves 
almost all articles of ordinary consumption : articles of luxurious 
consumption must constitute our chief imports. We shall afford an 
unprecedented market for tropical luxuries. Our people will con- 
sume much larger quantities of sugar, tea, coffee, cocoa, etc., than 
at present. Other countries also, with industry stimulated by free 
trade, will consume many tropical luxuries now almost unknown to 
the great mass of their people. An immense demand will arise for 
tropical productions, and will give a great impetus to tropical indus- 
try. At first, the Tropics will continue, as heretofore, to demand 
large balances of specie ; but soon the consumption of the manufac- 
tures of the Temperate zone will restore the balance of trade, and 
will render this grand system of interchange unbounded, save by 
the wants of the two great divisions of the globe. 

2d. Benefits to Social Life. 

1. We should benefit the world socially, by breaking down the 
excited traffic in raw products which is fostering excitement and 
demoralization throughout Christendom. 

2. But especially would mankind be benefited by the new indus- 
trial system we should inaugurate upon the ruins of British cen- 
tralization. 

Free trade would increase the wealth of all nations. Selling 
manufactured products instead of raw material, their income would 

over, the Tropics have never taken enough of the products of the Temperate 
zone to pay for their luxurious productions. To give them, in addition, the 
production of raw material, is increasing the balance of trade against the Tem- 
perate zone, and encouraging them to cease the growth of luxurious products. 
The true system of commerce will concentrate the labor of the Tropics on the 
agricultural products suited to their climate, and stimulate their industry, and 
that of the Temperate zone, by the mutual interchange of tropical luxuries and 
the manufactures of temperate latitudes. 

40 



626 the world's crisis. 

be greater; and purchasing at prices lowered by the repeal of 
tariffs, the purchasing power of their profits would be increased. 
Labor, especially, would feel the benefit of the new era : wages 
would be increased ; and the prices of all imported articles of con- 
sumption would be diminished: the poor man would enjoy comforts 
and luxuries far beyond his present means. — The increased produc- 
tion of the Tropics would be an important element in the advance 
of civilization. Under our lead, the Temperate zone and the 
Tropics would mutually stimulate each other into increased industry, 
and higher advancement in civilization, until they will be elevated 
to a degree of social advancement which we now find it difficult to 
realize. 

Nothing elevates the masses of mankind so rapidly, as to bring 
within the compass of their wages, the comforts, and many of the 
luxuries of life. When the laboring man is able to clothe himself 
and his family so well, as to diminish the difference in external ap- 
pearance between them and the wealthier class ; — and when he is 
able to afford them from his wages many of the luxuries of life, 
together with educational advantages ; — emotions of decent pride 
are implanted, and aspirations are encouraged, which will elevate 
them far above the atmosphere of vice. The germ of all social im- 
provement for the masses of mankind lies in increasing the purchas- 
ing power of the poor man's wages, and thus bringing him nearer 
the social status of wealth, by placing within his reach the comforts 
and luxuries of life. 

3d. Political Benefits. 

This point has already been so fully presented, that a brief sketch, 
only, is needed here. 

The policy that has been advocated would exert a direct influence 
upon the course of British politics. Long before we succeeded in 
supplanting England in the cotton manufacture, it would cause a 
political reaction there, that would unseat the Aristocracy, and give 
the government into the control of the Liberals. 

Our retaliatory legislation would strike a fatal blow to the com- 
mercial supremacy of England. The cessation of our supply of gold 
would cripple cotton production in the new fields ; and the deprivation 



GROWTH AND MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 627 

of our market would inflict serious injury, not only upon the cotton 
manufactures of Britain, but upon the woolen, and iron manufac- 
tures, also. Our own mills would monopolize our raw material, and 
British manufactures would receive such injury as to seriously im- 
pair the prosperity of the country. 

The Liberal party are the advocates of a liberal commercial 
policy. They oppose the system of taxation which levies so large 
a portion of the public burdens upon foreign commerce, and the 
English poor, and advocate a revenue system which imposes taxa- 
tion upon wealth. They would hail our retaliatory measures as a 
just rebuke of an iniquitous system, and demand the repeal of a 
policy always unjust, and then become impolitic. The public suf- 
fering would be potent arguments in behalf of their claims. In an 
issue so presented, the Whigs and Tories both combined, could not 
resist the Liberal party. The enfranchised, and suffering masses 
would throw off the shackles of aristocratic influence, and elect a 
Liberal Parliament. The British government would be revolution- 
ized, and at last placed in harmony with Progress. 

With the British government under the control of the Liberal 
party, the world would be safe from the machinations of despots. 
A cordial alliance with France, backed by the United States, would 
restore the balance of power to Progress. The despots would 
shrink from the pursuit of their unaccomplished designs. The over- 
awed spirit of Advancement would be again in the ascendant ; and, 
either by revolution, or by the peaceful progress of Opinion, would 
re-establish the Nationalities of Europe under Liberal governments, 
curb the ambition of Russia, and move onward uninterruptedly 
under the lead of America, to the culmination of liberty in Repub- 
licanism. 



628 



CHAPTER II. 

KUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUE PKESENT POLICY. 

But why picture the blessings which a wise, constitutional policy 
will evolve ! Why roll the stone of Sysiphus ! why tantalize our 
people with the sight of the cooling waters they may not drink ! We 
may be happy still, if we would return, at once, to the principles of 
the Constitution. But when did man ever heed remonstrance? 
When did a nation maddened with excitement, ever hearken to the 
admonitions of reason, until it had been chastened with suffering? 
" Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain" 
And God does not pardon without chastisement. The nation that 
is faithless to its obligations, and fails to improve its opportunities, 
is left to learn wisdom in the bitter school of adversity. — America 
was the destined leader of the human race in the new era of prog- 
ress. It ought to have marshaled the nations in a glorious career 
of advancement. But we have faltered in our career. Our derelic- 
tions have dishonored Liberty in the face of the world. It may be 
that offended Deity may compel us to honor the cause we have dis- 
graced, in the sufferings brought upon us by our departure from the 
principles of Republican government. 

In our example, the world is to learn political wisdom. Man 
never heeds the precepts of wisdom. As youth is regardless of the 
admonitions of virtue, and only learns from the bitter lessons of 
experience that vice causes suffering ; so nations must try every 
form of false government before they will cleave to the only true 
system of Republicanism. If we experience to the uttermost the 
evils of Centralization, our example will be a salutary warning to 
future ages. The rocks that bruise our keel, future republics will 
shun. 

States Rights Republicanism is the only practicable form of gov- 
ernment for enlightened man. It is destined to become universal, — 
embraced by the common consent of mankind. The outline of the 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 629 

American Constitution presents the system of government which is 
to give freedom and peace to the nations. But, from the constitu- 
tion of human nature, — always preferring the wrong to the right, 
and only reversing the choice at the stern mandate of bitter expe- 
rience, — States Rights Republicanism could only become firmly 
established through the temporary triumph of Centralization. The 
nations would never adhere to a strict construction of the Constitu- 
tion, until they beheld the bitter fruits of Latitudinarianism. — In the 
very inauguration of our government the party of Latitudinarian 
Construction seized the helm. It was beaten down, and the gov- 
ernment was wrested from its sway. But error is not easily van- 
quished : the party again rose under a new organization, and after 
a long and doubtful struggle, was again beaten down. It reorgan- 
ized a third time, and rushed into the political arena, more vigorous 
than ever, to seize possession of the government. — Of what avail to 
crush it again ! It would rise again, and again, perpetually, to 
maintain a ceaseless conflict with the true principles of Republican- 
ism. Was this conflict between opposing principles to continue for- 
ever ? Was Republicanism to be eternally agitated by the intrigues, 
machinations, and struggles of Centralization ? No ! this collision 
must cease : mankind must universally embrace States Rights Re- 
publicanism, and execrate Centralization. But nothing would make 
Centralization so odious as its triumph. Its temporary establish- 
ment was the only method of effecting its permanent overthrow. 
The party of Latitudinarian Construction must obtain possession of 
the Government, and sway it uncontrolled, that the results of their 
rule might stand forever, a damning commentary upon their princi- 
ples of administration. " When the wicked spring as the grass, and 
when all the workers of iniquity do flourish: it is that they may be de- 
stroyed forever." 

If the ruin Centralization has already wrought is sufficient to 
warn future ages from its path, we may hope for an early triumph 
of Conservatism, and the re-establishment of the prosperity of the 
country. But if the lesson is as yet insufficient, the Centraliza- 
tionists will retain possession of the government, until they ruin the 
country, and bring the cause of humanity to the verge of destruc- 
tion. Then Radicalism will die amid the execrations of mankind, 



630 

and an Absalom's pillar, erected from the ruins of the broken temple 
of our Prosperity, will mark its grave, and stand a perpetual warn- 
ing to the coming ages. 

It is already easy to perceive the evils which a continuance of the 
present policy will bring upon the country. The deep shadows cast 
from the coming storm of ruin, are even now darkening our land. 
Let us rapidly sketch their sombre outlines. 

Sect. 1. — The Ruin of America. 

I. The Political Ruin of the Country. 

1st. The Political Ruin of the South. 

1. If Radical rule prevails, the white population of the South 
will be reduced to a state of political vassalage to the negro. 

The measures already adopted secure this end. The registers 
who have been appointed exclude* the white population upon any 
pretense from the polls, while the suffrage is conferred upon all 
blacks. In many districts, former slaves are appointed registers, 
and have the power to admit or to exclude their former masters from 
the polls, without appeal. Throughout the South, the number of 
blacks registered exceeds the registered whites. In those states, 
negroes are made the ruling class. 

They sit upon juries to try offenses, and hold in their hands the 
life and liberty of all whom it suits federal officials to arraign. And 
under negro domination, this state of things is to be perpetuated. 

Never were a conquered people subjected to such humiliations as 
the brave people of the South. — Having taken measures to place all 
political and judicial power in the hands of the negro population, 
the most incendiary steps are taken to excite them against the 
whites. In the Southern cities, Radical emissaries are exciting 
them with the hope of confiscation ; and, by means of inflammatory 
speeches, are inciting riots which increase the feeling of bitter- 
ness toward the whites into intense hatred. The blacks are insti- 
gated to arrogate social equality, by intruding into hotels, street 
cars, and places of business, and amusement, upon a footing of 

* This, it will be remembered, was written in the Spring of 1867. 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 631 

equality ; that fiercer hate may inflame their minds from the repulse 
of their obtrusiveness. These collisions in cities, and towns, are 
employed to excite the colored population of country districts against 
the whites. Clubs are formed in every township, where white emissa- 
ries meet the ignorant freedmen in dark-lantern conclaves, to poison 
their minds, — repeating with exaggeration the details of every riot, 
pretending to sympathize with their imaginary wrongs, and exciting 
them with the hope of confiscation. 

And these persons, excited to exasperation by the means em- 
ployed to secure their adhesion to the Radical party, are to have 
control of the Southern State governments. Delegates elected by 
their votes will make laws for the government of the commonwealth. 
Black voters, fired with hatred of the whites on account of their 
superiority, will make the laws; and negro jurors will administer 
them, hanging and imprisoning, under color of law, the class whose 
superiority they abhor. 

We see in Tennessee a specimen of the measures the Radicals 
will adopt all over the South, to maintain their power, when once the 
Southern state governments are under their control. The white 
population will be disfranchised en masse, as having sympathized 
with, or taken part in the rebellion : then, as in Tennessee, the gov- 
ernor will be authorized to set aside at will the votes of counties 
adverse to the dominant party, under pretense of inaccurate regis- 
tration ; and negro soldiers will patrol the states, to intimidate 
voters in such districts as are opposed to negro rule. Such is now 
the government of Tennessee. In that state, it is mitigated : the 
negro population is not the controlling element ; nor have they been 
excited to hatred of the whites. But in the Southern states, they 
will have the uncontrolled ascendancy; and they will vent in accu- 
mulated oppression, the barbarian hatred with which they are now 
being inspired. 

Fiendish ingenuity could not devise a system of torture more hor- 
rible than that the Radicals have set on foot in the South. Those 
states entered the Union of their own free will. Will any other 
people ever enter into a Confederation that may become the instru- 
ment of such intolerable oppression, — such overwhelming ruin? 



632 THE world's crisis. 

Will not Republicanism be disgraced in the face of the world, and 
become a byword, a reproach ! 

2. Confiscation superadded to the Horrors of Negro Rule. 

The Stevens confiscation bill professes to be a fine, enforced by 
confiscation in case of non-payment. But its real intent is whole- 
sale confiscation, and that will be its result. It proposes to fine the 
seceded states §500,000,000 to be levied upon those whose property, 
in 1860, was worth over five thousand dollars. The sum might be 
met, were time allowed for its payment. But the object of the law 
is confiscation, and no time will be granted. The fine can only be 
met with borrowed money. And where can the Southern planters 
borrow $500,000,000, upon an emergency? What capitalist will 
loan money to bankrupt proprietors, living in states governed by 
negro rule, where labor is utterly disorganized? A few persons 
may succeed in obtaining, from friends in the North, money to meet 
their fine ; but the vast number would be unable to compass it. In 
its practical operation, the Stevens bill will prove, what its author 
and his coadjutors designed it to be, — a measure of sweeping con- 
fiscation. 

And that measure will be passed. It may be delayed, until the 
next Presidential election is over, and Radical congressmen from 
the Southern states demand it, in the interest of their negro con- 
stituencies. The Northern Radicals only want a pretext; and they 
will only too willingly accede to the demands of their Southern 
allies. The measure will secure them the negro vote, in the present; 
and, in the future, the unwillingness to undo the act and make resti- 
tution, will contribute to the security of their power in the North. 

3. Ruin of the Negro Population of the South. 

The aim of the Radicals in confiscation, is not the benefit of the 
negro. It is known that the negro will not labor, when freed from 
the influence of the white race; and the Radicals have resigned 
them to the fate which indolence, improvidence, and vice is surely 
bringing upon them. The prominent Radical leaders recognize the 
approaching extinction of the black race, as a certain fact. They 
expect them, when no longer shielded by the care of the higher race, 
to fade away before a competition with the superior energy of the 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 633 

white man. The aim of the Radicals in confiscation is, not to pro- 
vide permanent homes for the negro ; but to obtain lands which will 
readily pass into the possession of Dutch settlers. The negroes 
are expected to die out, and they wish the Dutch to take their 
place. The unfortunate negro race is merely used by Radical craft, 
as the instrument to bring about their own ruin. 

This aim is in perfect accordance with the entire policy of the 
Radical party. Theirs is a policy of cold-blooded calculation, look- 
ing to party aims, careless whom their car of triumph crushes. 
They never avow their ultimate aims, but, with consummate craft, 
proceed, step by step, to the accomplishment of their purpose. 
Hypocrisy is the right arm of their strength. Prodigal of profes- 
sions to all, and keeping faith with none, they use various allies in 
succession, and, when they are no longer useful, crush the instru- 
ments whose confidence they have abused. 

They first played upon the credulity of the Border states and the 
Northern Democrats, and won their support to a war for the Union. 
When public sentiment was ripe for it, they unmasked their pur- 
poses, and crushed the Border states and the Northern Democracy 
beneath the heel of military power. — They next demoralized the 
Southern armies by avowing that they only fought for the abolition 
of slavery ; and, while resistance continued, they voted down revolu- 
tionary measures offered in Congress. When resistance was over, 
they still remained silent, until the promises of the President had 
induced the Southern states to adopt the Constitutional amendment 
abolishing slavery. No sooner was this accomplished, than, in viola- 
tion of previous pledges, they refused admission to the Southern 
states, unless the right of suffrage were granted the negro. Their 
rallying cry now was the worthiness of the black race, their capac- 
ity for industry, and for self-government. — The support of the West 
was necessary to them, and they carried the West, through philan- 
thropic impulse, in favor of their programme. The military recon- 
struction act was passed. Hitherto the Radicals have ruled by the 
support of the West, and they have cajoled the West with philan- 
thropic professions. But now the time is approaching when they 
may do without Western support, provided they can obtain the more 
reliable adherence of the Southern negroes ; — and their whole policy, 



63-± the world's crisis. 

now, is designed to conciliate the Southern negro vote. Hence 
the confiscation bill; hence Sumner's negro franchise bill. The 
negro vote secured, the West will be whistled down the wind as the 
Border states were before : New England and the South can rule 
the country. — Then the negro will be used, and thrown aside like 
the other allies whose confidence the Radicals have abused. The 
support of the negro is desired only until the South can be filled up 
with Dutch. When confiscation shall have been effected by their 
assistance, it will be the aim of Radical policy to turn a stream of 
German emigrants upon the Southern states. These, it is hoped, 
will be equally faithful allies of New England as the negroes, and 
much more industrious. When the Southern states shall have been 
flooded with them, the negroes may shift for themselves, and die out 
as fast as they can. With their well-known improvidence, those of 
them who avail themselves of confiscation to secure homesteads will 
soon sell their lands ; and then, in competition with Dutch industry, 
and Dutch thrift, they will be cut off from the labor market — and 
extinction will close the drama of Radical negro philanthropy. 

Radical domination will not be firmly established until the South- 
ern whites are ruined to make way for the negro, and the negro 
thrust into extinction to make room for the Dutch. If these aims 
are accomplished, all-destroying Radicalism will be safe; — but 
Liberty will be no more ! 

2d. The Political Ruin of the West. 

Wrong reacts upon the wrong doer. Radical oppression will not 
stop with the South. The West, next, will suffer the worst evils of 
Radical oppression. 

Let the people of the West continue a little longer to support the 
Radical policy, — let them assist Stevens and Sumner, the high 
priests of Protection, in the immolation of the bleeding South upon 
the altar of their idol — and their own doom is sealed. Protectionists, 
whether in Pennsylvania or New England, know that the West will 
not much longer endure their policy of monopoly; — they know that 
the industrial questions which have been lost sight of during the 
tempest of fanatical excitement and civil war, will soon reassert their 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. G35 

importance, and create a breach between the West and the monopo- 
lists of the East; — and they are casting about for new and more 
pliable allies, attached to the party by the strongest ties of interest. 
They find them in the Southern negroes, and the Dutch, to whom the 
South is to be given up. In enabling the Radical party to crush the 
Southern Conservatives and establish the negroes and the Dutch in 
their stead, the people of the West are plucking swift ruin upon their 
own heads. The Southern planters will be reduced from affluence 
to beggary — subjected to the domination of emancipated slaves — 
the beautiful land they rescued from the wilderness become their 
prison, instead of their home — and the government their fathers 
constituted, their worse than Egyptian oppressor. And these plant- 
ers are the only true allies of Western interests. Let them be 
crushed, and the South is no longer the ally of the West against New 
England monopoly. The West will have stricken down its firmest 
friend, and will stand alone in opposition to the baneful policy of New 
England. The melancholy grace will be accorded it, of being the 
last victim the Radical Polypheme will devour. 

The West may now arrest the progress of misrule. The measures 
necessary to bind the negro population of the South to the support 
of the Radical party have not yet been passed. The defeat of the 
Stevens confiscation bill, and Sumner's bill enfranchising the ne- 
groes in all the states, may yet save the South to Conservatism, and 
arrest the suicidal policy of the Radicals. The votes of the Western 
Representatives are necessary to admit the Radical negro represent- 
atives from the South, and carry those measures. If the People of 
the Great West will awake, and, by an unmistakable expression of 
public indignation, compel their representatives to defeat the Radical 
policy, the country may yet be saved from impending ruin. 

In the face of reaction in the Middle and Western states, the 
Radicals will not dare to press the measures of Stevens and Sumner. 
They will pause in their career, until after the Presidential election. 
If the Middle and Western states are true to themselves, that elec- 
tion will drive the Radicals from power, and save the country. If 
the Radicals triumph, then, the political ruin of the country is con- 
summated. For, however they may defer, they will not — they dare 



636 

not — abandon their odious measures. However they may gloss over 
their purposes before the Presidential election, let them pass that 
crisis in safety, and they will boldly, unscrupulously, carry out their 
entire programme. 

They will execute the will of their Southern negro allies. The 
irruption of Southern Radical Representatives upon Congress, will 
give a new impulse to the resolution of the party. Many Northern 
Radicals now shrink from the ultra measures thrust upon the party 
by Stevens and Sumner. But Southern Radicals will have no scru- 
ples. They will urge their adoption. Clamor and party drill will 
prevail; the adoption of those measures will make centralization an 
accomplished fact. 

State constitutions will be set aside : State laws will be abrogated. 
The franchise will be regulated by Federal authority alone. The 
consequences of Sumner's bill cannot be better presented, than in 
the language of the eloquent Dr. Bacon, (himself a Republican,) in 
a letter to the Independent protesting against the measure. He 
says : — 

" Suppose such a law be enacted — how shall it be executed ? The 
national government has undertaken to say who shall vote, and who 
shall not in the State of Massachusetts. What next ? The national 
government must make a registration of voters (as it is now doing 
in the Southern states) by officers of its own. What next ? The na- 
tional government must take care that no man whom it invests with 
this right of voting is in any way restrained from voting ; and, there- 
fore, the ballot-boxes must be under the inspection, and in the cus- 
tody, of United States officers; and United States policemen, or 
soldiers, must keep order at the voting places. The national gov- 
ernment, having taken this matter in hand, must go through with it, 
and must take care that no man's vote is thrown out in the counting, 
and that the returns are made, or the result declared correctly ; and 
this, too, it must do by its own officers. — A few years experience of 
elections conducted by authority, and under regulations proceeding 
from the seat of the national government, would convince Ignotus 
that the destruction of the reserved rights of the States, and 
the consequent centralization of power at the national capital, is 
identical with the Subversion of Liberty." 

Equally forcible is the warning of Daniel Webster. In an oration 
delivered in 1843, upon occasion of the completion of the Bunker 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. C37 

Hill monument, speaking of the military republics of South America, 
he said : — 

"A military republic, a government founded on mock elections, 
and supported only by the sword, is a movement indeed, but a retro- 
grade and disastrous movement from the regular and old-fashioned 
monarchical system. If men would enjoy the blessings of republi- 
can government, they must govern themselves by reason, by mutual 
counsel, and consultation, by a sense of feeling, and general interest, 
and by the acquiescence of the minority in the will of the majority 
properly expressed ; and, above all, the military must be kept in 
direct subordination to the civil authority. 

" Whenever this lesson is not both learned and practiced, there 
can be no political freedom. Absurd, preposterous it is, a scoff, and 
a satire upon free forms of constitutional liberty, for forms of gov- 
ernment to be prescribed by military leaders, and the right of suffrage 
to be exercised at the point of the sword." 

Where will this centralization, once established, end? 

The time for reaction will come, — when the Middle and Western 
states will grow dissatisfied with the reckless system of administra- 
tion which sacrifices their interests to the impulses of New England 
fanaticism, and the grasping avarice of New England manufacturers. 
But their opposition will be unavailing : the government will be in 
the hands of a clique, who will govern the country by negro votes. 
It is not in human nature to endure injustice and misrule with pa- 
tience. The Radicals will be under the necessity which compels all 
centralizations to rest their power upon a standing army. Discon- 
tent in the West, as in the South, will be suppressed by Federal sol- 
diers : Western ballot-boxes, like the Southern, will be guarded by 
negro troops : our elections held under the shadow of the bayonet, 
will degenerate into a farce, by which the party in possession of the 
government will maintain its hold on power. 

This oppression might endure for a time — but could human pa- 
tience last forever ? Will the great majority of the American people 
suffer themselves to be controlled by a faction insignificant in num- 
bers, usurping the government by a trick, and maintaining, by force, 
the power won by fraud ? The great body of the nation will, sooner 
or later, grow restive under Radical domination ; and it is to be 
feared that our republic will tread the path of all preceding Central- 
izations, through civil discord, to repose in despotism. 



638 the world's crisis. 

Let the Radicals consolidate their power, and we follow the foot- 
steps of Mexico, and the Spanish republics of South America. 

II. The Industrial Ruin of the Country. 

Industrial ruin may overthrow the Radical power before it has 
culminated in the destruction of our Republican institutions. Our 
best hope lies in the counteracting force of the various evils that 
reckless party has let loose, to blight our prosperity. A deluge 
which extinguishes a conflagration may prove a blessing : so this 
country may yet hail bankruptcy as the only deliverer able to rescue 
the Republic from Radicalism. The same course which threatens to 
establish Radicalism upon a firm basis, also menaces our industrial 
interests with Bankruptcy. It may be that in this double birth, — 
Bankruptcy and Radical Centralization, — the former may be the elder 
born, and destroy the latter. 

Radical misrule threatens the country with industrial ruin from 
the combined operation of two infallible causes. The one cause is 
the inflation of prices induced by our financial system; the other 
is the demoralization of Southern industry. Either one of these is 
sufficient to bring on a grave industrial crisis ; both combined, must 
cause utter, and inevitable ruin. 

The ruinous influence of the present high prices upon our pros- 
perity has already been traced. It only remains to trace, in more de- 
tail, its effect in combination with the overthrow of Southern industry. 

Under negro rule, the Southern states can never re-establish their 
industry. An idle, thievish, dissolute black population will, at best, 
content themselves with producing the bare means of subsistence. 
And when confiscation demoralizes the labor of the South, and offers 
a premium to idleness, nothing can save Southern industry from 
annihilation. 

Nor can the extinction of Southern industry be averted by the 
substitution of Dutch, for negro labor. It will require time to make 
the necessary changes, — to sweep away the Planters, to give place 
to the negroes, and the negroes, to make room for the Dutch. Be- 
sides, the Dutch are not suited to the Southern climate ; nor is their 
industry adapted to the cotton culture. A generation, at least, must 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. G39 

elapse, before these disabilities would be overcome ; and, meantime, 
the country would be plunged into irretrievable ruin. Our industrial 
condition is already critical, in the highest degree. We cannot af- 
ford to experiment, and wait the issue of such a revolution of our 
system of industry, as that proposed. A crew invites swift destruc- 
tion, which, on the verge of the Maelstrom, cuts away the masts, 
hoping to replace them before the whirlpool engulfs the vessel : as 
surely as the present system of Southern industry is swept away, so 
surely the prosperity of the country goes down, before it can be re- 
placed by another. We are already in the vortex, and nothing can 
save us, but the most prompt and decisive measures for regaining 
our lost prosperity. 

The industry of the South is now in a most critical condition. Our 
present financial system is alone sufficient to work its ruin. A full 
cotton crop would reduce the price in the Liverpool market to 13 
cents a pound, — a price at which, under existing circumstances, the 
culture in the South would be attended with loss. The present 
charges upon cotton would alone consume the entire price ; for the 
charges upon a bale of cotton, before it is shipped to Europe, are 
now greater than the average price of the article,* twenty years ago. 
The wreck of Southern industry will be complete, when, to the ruin- 
ous influence of our financial system, is superadded the demoraliza- 
tion of the Southern labor system. From present indications, we 
shall soon be making cotton a regular article of import, and protect- 
ing our own feeble production, by a tariff upon the foreign article. 

The manner in which our financial system is depressing Northern 
industry, has already been seen. Let us now trace the universal 
prostration of Northern prosperity consequent upon the paralysis 
of Southern industry. 

The South has always been the center of our industrial system. 
Its exports have been the basis of our foreign commerce, and its 
consumption the soul of domestic industry. 

From 1820 to 1860, the entire exports of the country amounted 



*See ante, page 533, where the influence of the high cost of production upon the 
cotton culture is discussed at length. 



640 the world's crisis. 

to 14,856,863,368 ; of which, cotton comprised $2,574,834,000, or 
more than half the entire exports. The three Southern products, 
cotton, tobacco, and rice, amounted to $3,117,869,000, being nearly 
three-fourths of the whole. 

Upon these Southern exports, together with the Southern demand, 
we may say that nearly three-fourths of the internal trade and for- 
eign commerce of the country was founded. Let us note the rami- 
fications of this traffic. 

The South produced and sold $400,000,000 worth of produce an- 
nually, a great portion of it for export to foreign markets. Northern 
capitalists transported this produce, and imported foreign goods in 
exchange; and the traffic built up the Northern marine, and the 
great commercial cities of the seaboard. Moreover, the $400,000,- 
000 which the South derived from its annual productions, were all 
expended in the North. A part of it was paid to Eastern merchants 
for foreign goods ; part to New England, for home manufactures ; 
part to Western farmers, for their produce ; part to Northern cities, 
for farming utensils, for profits of traffic, for coal, and iron, and the 
thousand articles which the South, concentrating its labor upon a 
few staples, failed to produce, and obtained exclusively from the 
North. In this manner, the Northern states obtained their supplies 
of foreign goods. In effect, the South bought them with its produce, 
and paid a great part of them to the North in exchange for its 
productions. The entire traffic based on Southern production was 
carried on by Northern capital, and redounded to the prosperity of 
Northern farmers, merchants, manufacturers, miners, shippers, and 
transporters. The traffic built Northern cities, railroads, steam- 
boats, ships, and factories. 

The demand for at least three-fourths of the industry of the North 
was either based upon, or in some manner, directly or indirectly, 
connected with, Southern industry. — The cities on the Southern bor- 
ders of the West grew up in carrying on the traffic between the West 
and the South. Half their business consisted in supplying the South 
with Western stock and agricultural produce, with agricultural im- 
plements, with iron, coal, and other raw products ; the other half, in 
supplying the West with manufactures and goods, purchased by 
Western farmers with the returns from their Southern sales : and 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 641 

these cities expended the profits of their traffic, in purchasing West- 
ern produce and Eastern goods, and in making improvements which 
afforded employment to thousands of mechanics, whose wants in- 
creased the demand for manufactures, importations, and agricultural 
produce. — The Eastern cities were sustained, by an export trade 
consisting chiefly of Southern products, and by an import traffic in 
goods chiefly purchased by the sale of Southern staples. — The cities 
engaged in conducting the traffic between the West and the East, 
though less immediately connected with Southern industry, were not 
less entirely dependent upon it for their prosperity. The imported 
goods they sold to the West were bought with Southern produce : 
the Western produce they shipped to the East, was purchased — by sea- 
board cities built up through the commerce based on Southern pro- 
duction---by manufacturers, miners, and mechanics, dependent upon 
the Southern demand for their market — and by the thousands obtain- 
ing subsistence in supplying the wants of those thus subsisting by 
the Southern trade. 

Thus all the cities of the land were built up upon the products of 
Southern industry, to a greater or less extent. The seaboard cities 
were built up by the commerce in exports and imports ; three-fourths 
of which consisted of Southern products, and of goods purchased with 
Southern products, and sold to individuals whose means where derived 
from sales directly to the South, or from business connected in some 
manner with Southern industry. The cities on the Southern borders 
of the West owed their existence to a direct trade — with the South — 
with the seaboard cities, three-fourths of whose traffic and popula- 
tion were based upon Southern industry — and with the Western 
farmers, three-fourths of whose means were derived from sales to the 
South and to cities flourishing upon the Southern trade. — The cities 
upon the Northern borders of the West owed their existence to a 
traffic between the seaports sustained by Southern products, and the 
Western population whose ability to purchase depended upon the 
demand of cities owing three-fourths of their business directly or 
indirectly to Southern industry. 

In our grand system of internal traffic, the South was the common 
market of both the East and the West. The South bought everything 
of both, but sold very little to either. Its market was abroad. The 
41 



642 the world's crisis. 

East sold goods to the South, and to the West which purchased with 
means derived from Southern industry : the West sold produce to the 
South, and to the East whose prosperity was derived from the South- 
ern traffic. The trade of those sections with each other was based 
upon Southern resources, in hardly a less degree than their direct 
traffic with the South. Without Southern production, the West 
would have found no market for its produce in Eastern cities : the 
East would have had neither market for goods in the West, nor goods 
for the market. Southern industry was the necessary complement 
of Northern. The South afforded a market for Northern industry 
which foreign countries denied, and its productions were the chan- 
nel through which the prosperity of the whole country drew aliment 
from the wealth of foreign nations. Foreign nations wanted scarcely 
anything the North could produce ; and the North found compensa- 
tion for its own barrenness in commercial products, by assisting the 
South to grow cotton, tobacco, and rice for export. These Southern 
exports were not the products of Southern industry, alone. The 
North was equally engaged in the production. The West which fur- 
nished farming implements, stock, and provisions, and the East 
which furnished clothing, supplies, and shipping, — were no less in- 
terested in the production than the South. It was really a copart- 
nership between the sections for the production of commodities for 
the foreign market, in which the South furnished soil and labor, the 
North supplies and transportation. The nation was a flourishing 
oak : the South was the root of the tree — having no foliage — present- 
ing none of the evidences of prosperity — but sending to the luxuriant 
branches the nourishment which it derived from the earth. Through 
it the flourishing North obtained aliment from foreign nations, to 
nourish its vigor. 

Now, when the root is blasted, the trunk must decay, the branches 
wither. Destroy the vital industry of the South, and the prosperity 
of the North must perish. The tempest cannot uptear the roots of the 
oak without laying the green branches low. The fire that blasts the 
root of the tree may leave the top unsinged ; but soon the foliage 
falls, and the bare, withered branches wail in the wind that erst 
made soft melody among their whispering leaves. What can com- 
pensate the North for the loss of Southern industry? How can it 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 643 

dispense with the profitable partnership in Southern production ? 
From this it derived its wealth, which missing, it must relapse into 
poverty. The oasis cannot retain its fertility, when the stream is 
dried whose waters caused its verdure. 

It may be objected that the experience of the last few years has 
proved that the South is not indispensable to Northern prosperity; 
for the North has never known greater prosperity than during the 
period when Southern resources have all been cut off. Yes, but 
how has the North dispensed with the South ? The government has, 
during the war, substituted the South. The immense demand aris- 
ing from collossal armaments compensated for the want of the 
Southern market; and the lavish outlays of the government during 
those years of prodigal expenditure substituted the $400,000,000 
which the South annually paid to the North. But what a difference 
between the old prosperity, and the present. The money derived 
from the South was money earned: the money lavished by the gov- 
ernment was money borrowed. The prosperity of the last few years 
is factitious. It was derived from the hypothecation of the resources 
of future years. Those four years had well be prosperous, when 
they devoured the resources of half a century to come. The spend- 
thrift who is mortgaging his estate always displays more of the be- 
dizzened externals of prosperity, than the prudent economist who 
is improving his fortune. Our prosperity is only the boiling of the 
cauldron which wastes the liquid it seems to magnify. 

But it is again urged, that the government has, for two years, 
ceased its immense disbursements — and yet the country is prosper^ 
ous. Yes, and this seeming prosperity is derived from the exporta- 
tion of our bonds ! We are selling prodigally to foreign countries 
the treasures of the coming generation, which the government squan- 
dered upon the country during the war. The sale of bonds is com- 
pensating for the loss of the products of Southern industry. While 
they last, we are rich as ever. We do not need the products of the 
South ! But how, when the bonds are all exported ? — sold and 
gone ? Then, when we have neither Southern industry, nor bonds, 
what will Prodigal do ? 

We can be prosperous without the South ! And the last six years 



644 

prove it ! The last six years prove how indispensable the South is 
to us. They prove that even a factitious prosperity can only be 
maintained by the Government squandering borrowed treasures, in- 
stead of the money the South honestly earned. They prove that 
our foreign trade can only be maintained, in so far as the partially 
recuperated industry of the South failed* to sustain it, by the annual 
sale of hundreds of millions of our debt ! As these expedients can- 
not be carried much farther, the last few years prove that, without 
the early restoration of Southern industry, we are lost! The flush 
of seeming prosperity is but the hectic glow that is fed by drafts 
upon the fountain of life. Already the ruddy tinge is fading, before 
the pallor which announces that the strength is almost consumed. 

1. The prostration of Southern industry will be first felt in the 
decay of Western agriculture, and the decline of the cities fostered 
by Southern traffic. Never was the business of any country mu- 
tually interconnected in such a manner as in ours. The system of 
internal traffic in which the sections were mutually dependent upon 
each other, — the South on the North for supplies, and the North on 
the South for a market — will make the paralysis of Southern pros- 
perity felt immediately by every quarter of the other section. 

The West, however, will feel it first. The Western farmers who 
have derived their incomes from Southern sales, will find their re- 
sources failf with their market. The cities on the Southern borders 
of the West, whose population has been in great measure sustained 
by the Southern trade, will lose their accustomed business : all en- 
gaged in the manufacture or the transportation of goods and pro- 
duce destined for the Southern market, will find their occupation 
gone ; and equally unfortunate those engaged in the manufacture 
or the transportation of goods destined for the consumption of agri- 
culturists deriving their incomes from the Southern traffic. A large 
number of merchants and manufacturers engaged in the Southern 
and Western trade, with their employes, will be compelled by th 
falling off of business to turn to some other occupation. 

*Our exports for 1867 were $471,000,000 currency value; of this $328,000,- 
000, or 70 per cent, of the whole, were Southern productions. 

f The West is already suffering severely from the loss of the Southern Stock 
market 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT TOLICY. 645 

What resource for these numerous classes thrown out of business, 
by the failure of the traffic between the West and South ? 

If the industrial and financial condition of the country were favor- 
able, they might engage in manufactures. But with Southern in- 
dustry demoralized, and no certainty of a regular supply of cotton, 
what capitalist would invest his means in factories? Besides, as we 
shall see, this revulsion in trade cannot but precipitate a financial 
crisis that will still further paralyze business, and prevent the pos- 
sibility of embarking on a large scale in new branches of enter- 
prise. — No ; the cities of the West could offer no support to the 
thousands thrown out of business. To leave the cities, and engage 
in agriculture, would be their only resource. — But population does 
not readily adapt itself to vast changes in the industrial system. 
Men wait, in the expectation of some change for the better, hoping 
against hope that business may resume its activity. The mass 
of working men, however, could not wait long. Their savings 
would soon be expended, and gaunt want would stare them in the 
face. They would overcrowd every remaining avenue of trade. 
When the overdone traffic of the cities fails to yield subsistence, 
then will come bread riots, which the government must suppress by 
force. At length, this surplus population of the cities must submit 
to necessity, and remove to the country and engage in agriculture. 

The evil will not stop here : The high price of labor and material 
will have already checked city improvements. When the emigration to 
the country began, of course all public improvement would stop. No 
more houses erected, no more streets and town lots graded. A mul- 
titude of workmen engaged in building, — carpenters, glaziers, pain- 
ters, bricklayers, roofers and laborers employed in various depart- 
ments of building, — will be thrown out of employment ; furthermore, 
all engaged in supplying materials for building, — lumbermen, brick- 
makers, tinners, founders, miners, — will find no longer demand for 
their products ; — and all these classes must, of necessity, seek sub- 
sistence in agriculture. The wave of ruin will spread, until the pop- 
ulation of the cities on the Southern borders of the West shall be 
diminished in ratio with the contraction of their business. The 
population which the trade with the South has massed in cities must 
disperse, with the cessation of the traffic. 



646 

And all these various classes thrown upon agriculture for subsist- 
ence will increase production, in proportion to the diminution of 
consumption. The number of producers will increase, in the ratio 
that the number of consumers declines. 

2. The tide of ruin will next spread toward the East 
The seaboard cities sustained by the export of Southern products, 
and the importation and sale of goods obtained in return, will find 
their business cut off. The importing merchants must curtail their 
business, from inability, both to purchase goods abroad, and to sell 
them in the South and West: the mercantile jobbers will lose their 
business : the transporters of goods to the South and West will find 
their warehouses empty, and their boats and cars standing idle. A 
steady stream of migration from the Eastern cities to the country 
must set in. With stagnation, all improvements must cease : the 
carpenters, roofers, bricklayers, and the many trades engaged in 
supplying materials for building, will find no employment ; and when 
their little savings are exhausted, they must join the caravan of 
broken merchants and jobbers, in their movement to the only 
asylum, — agriculture. 

Is it necessary to trace this course of causation further, and show 
how the cities on the Northern borders of the West will now find 
their business gone? — how the Western farmers, losing their East- 
ern market, will be unable to buy the products of Eastern indus- 
try? — how these cities must throw off their surplus population? — 
how the railways between the East and the West will lose their 
business ? how the towns along the line of transit will be abandoned 
by their famishing population? — how the miners, founders, and 
the various branches of industry engaged in supplying material for, 
and building cities, towns, and railroads, must all abandon their pres- 
ent business, and seek subsistence in agriculture ? 

The North will be ruined. Its prosperity will share the grave of 
Southern prosperity. Grass will grow in the streets of its cities : 
steamboats will rot at the decaying wharves : the whistle will be 
unheard along the lines of deserted railway. 

Simultaneously with this industrial prostration, will come a finan- 
cial crash, and the downfall of the currency system. The crisis we 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 647 

have described must necessitate the withdrawal of deposits from the 
banks ; and a run upon them, once begun, will rise to a panic. The 
banks will go by the board: the government must either substitute 
a fresh issue of Greenbacks for their notes, as the only alternative 
of precipitating national bankruptcy, by throwing their deposited 
bonds upon the market at a ruinous sacrifice. The greenback circu- 
lation will also go down: the redundancy of the currency would 
soon make itself strikingly apparent, in the general stagnation of 
business : the currency which is absorbed in the present business of 
the country, would depreciate to one-fourth its present value, when 
three-fourths of the business of the country ceased. The deprecia- 
tion once begun, will go on with an accelerated rapidity, until a 
discredited currency will deepen the shadows lowering over the 
business interests of the country, and hasten the coming of the final 
catastrophe. 

The prostration of Southern industry must crush the shipping 
interest. 

The increase of our tonnage has always borne a steady proportion 
to the increase of our cotton production. It has steadily averaged 
about one ton to every bale of cotton exported. When it has ex- 
ceeded this proportion, the depression of the shipping interest 
checked ship-building, until the cotton production increased suffi- 
ciently to re-establish the ratio ; and when our tonnage has fallen 
below the proportion, the activity in shipping has soon re-established 
the equilibrium. In this regular ratio, our mercantile marine in- 
creased, until, in 1860, our shipping engaged in foreign traffic 
amounted to 2,600,000 tons. In 1865, it had declined to 1,092,000 
tons, a loss of more than* half. — It has been the fashion to attribute 
this decline to the dread of Southern privateers ; but it was chiefly 
owing to the falling off of our cotton trade. When we had cotton to 



* The following table shows the proportion of American and foreign shipping 
in the port of New York during a series of years. The amount is given in tons. 
Year. American tonnage. Foreign tonnage. 

1861 - • - 1,618,258 ... - 865,446 

1863 - - - 986,713 .... 1,395,634 

1864 - - - 845,172 - 1,416,734 

1865 - - - 774,458 .... 1,473,815 



648 THE world's crisis. 

export, we could force its shipment upon our own bottoms ; for 
Britain was compelled to buy it, even at prices enhanced by our 
shipping profits : and then, our vessels having made a handsome 
profit upon the outward voyage, were able to bring return freight, 
at prices that distanced competition. But when cotton was no 
longer one of our exports, British merchants could dictate the terms 
on which they would take our other commodities ; and, with charac- 
teristic shrewdness, they preferred to buy them in our ports, that 
their vessels might make the profit of transportation. The conse- 
quence was, our large marine could not find employment, and ship- 
owners preferred to sell their vessels, rather than suffer them to rot 
at the wharves. The same process diminished the number of our 
ships, which will soon diminish the population of our cities. Our 
shipping is continuing to decline. Old vessels are decaying, and no 
new ones are being built. Let our cotton production cease, and our 
imports and exports decline with the ruin of Northern and Southern 
industry,— and our shipping will be annihilated. 

Finally, the prostration of Southern industry will lead to national 
bankruptcy. 

How rapidly our debt is being exported, has already been shown \ 
and how, in a few years more, it will all be owned by foreign capi- 
talists. This will ruin us ; but bankruptcy will not wait this slow 
process. In the general stagnation of industry, it will be found 
impossible to collect the necessary amount of revenue to pay the 
interest on the public debt, and carry on the public administration : 
the revenue from the tariff must fall off immensely; and, in the stag- 
nation of trade, the internal taxation will scarcely yield any returns. 
The credit of the government will fail, and avowed bankruptcy will 
close the scene. 

This is not idle speculation. The laws of cause and effect upon in- 
dustrial relations, are immutable. Universal ruin must follow the pros- 
tration of Southern industry, unless a change in the government arrests 
the causes, before they shall have produced their ultimate effects. 

It may be, that industrial depression in the North may lead to 
revolutionary measures looking to the adoption of the same policy 
there, that is now being inaugurated in the South. When the popu- 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT TOLICY. 649 

lation of Northern cities are starving — without the means of subsist- 
ing there, or of removing to the country — the masses may demand a 
redistribution of Northern property, for their benefit, such as the 
Radicals will then have made in the South, for the benefit of the 
negro ! They may demand a redistribution of lands to give them 
homesteads ! or a fine upon the wealthy, enforced under penalty 
of confiscation, to afford them means of emigrating to the vacant 
government lands ! We cannot conjecture what course events may 
take, when universal ruin is falling upon the business interests of 
the country. If the Radical administration can enforce order with 
negro bayonets, it may compel the surplus population of the cities 
and workshops, to disperse quietly into the rural districts. If the 
famishing people obtain the upper hand, none can foresee the revo- 
lutionary measures into which desperation may hurry them. — The 
most favorable solution would be the displacement of the Radicals 
from power by the votes of the people, and the reversal of the 
policy which caused the suffering. 

Unless this is done, utter industrial ruin seems inevitable. Al- 
ready, the first fruits of Radical policy are seen. Business is gen- 
erally stagnant in our cities. In Boston, hundreds of stores are 
inscribed with the ominous words, " To let ;" and its line of ocean 
steamers have no freights to -carry, and will probably soon leave the 
port which commerce has forsaken. Throughout the country, the 
goods' market during the last spring has been dull ; drummers of 
city merchants vainly endeavor to sell upon the longest credits. 
Although Southern production has, to some extent, revived, and the 
activity of our foreign trade is maintained by the exportation of 
bonds, yet there is general complaint of business stagnation. Im- 
provements have stopped. Thousands of mechanics and laborers 
are out of employment. 

The tendency is already begun, that will, unless arrested, end in 
the depopulation of our cities. The Northern papers are already 
advising the laboring classes who cannot obtain employment, to 
leave the cities and engage in agricultural production. The New 
York Tribune estimates that the population of our cities is now too 
great, by one- million souls, for the present amount of business. 
According to this estimate, one-third of the population of our cities 



650 the world's crisis. 

according to the census of 1860, ought now to remove to the coun- 
try and engage in agriculture. In a recent issue, the Tribune urges 
an exodus to the country, in the following terms : — 

"There are at least one million hanging on where they are not 
wanted, and not likely to be. ' Can't you give us something to do V 
is their incessant whine, when there is work enough and good pay 
for all, if they will only go where it is, and do what is needed. 
They cannot find work on a few square miles of pavements, be- 
cause there are too many people here, and too few on the farms, and 
in the rural factories and workshops. Thousands must be starved 
back into productive labor; and the sooner this is done, the better 
for all. 

" Understand then, ye waiters on Providence ! that there is no 
room for you in the cities, and that you ought to go out of them, at 
once. Do not say you have no means ; for you have feet, and can 
get out of sight of paving stones, by using them. Do not plead the 
needs of your families ; for you can do them no good by staying 
where you have nothing to do. — Tell us not of your ignorance of 
farming ; it is high time you knew something that is wanted, and that 
will not go out of fashion. And besides, there are many things to 
do in the rural districts, other than farming; and if you are really 
good for anything, you will there find a chance to prove it." 

It is not necessary to pause to expose the fallacy of this reasoning, 
by showing that both farmers and rural workshops have as many 
laborers as they can afford to hire, and that an exodus of famishing 
multitudes from the cities would both glut the labor market in the 
country, and cause a great excess of production over the demand. 
The home demand of the South, and of our cities and workshops, is 
the great market of our agriculture ; and when this is lost, agriculture 
is ruined. The extract is only quoted in evidence of the fact that 
the causes are already in operation that will both ruin our cities, and 
our agriculture. Already, thousands of persons have left the 
Eastern cities, some going West, others South, in search of em- 
ployment. But stagnation is equally prevalent in both those sections. 

Trade is dull in the cities ; and the country population, depressed 
by the state of business, is studying economy. 

Public improvements have stopped, throwing thousands out of 
employment. 

Our manufactures are depressed, except a few favored interests. 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 651 

Nothing can more clearly show the stagnation of industry, ihan 
the falling off of the incomes of business men in our cities, and the 
diminution of the revenue from internal taxation. The published 
returns show that the aggregate incomes of one hundred and 
thirteen business men in New York city have fallen off, from $9,- 
216,000 last year, to $3,617,000, this. These figures show more 
clearly than any other argument, the extent to which our industry is 
declining, under the policy of the Radical party. 

We already see "the beginning of the end." The causes already 
in operation will, in a few years more, plunge the government into 
bankruptcy, and prostrate every department of industry. 

III. The Social Ruin of the Country. 

Little need be said on this subject, more than has already been 
advanced. 

Social demoralization seems already approaching its acme. 

Political corruption and bribery have been reduced to a system. 
Men high in position are charged with the corrupt use of their 
political power. The corrupt use of money in lobbying is noto- 
rious — not only in Congress, but in the state legislatures. Even 
the ermine is not free from reproach. 

Society is agitated by a general excitement, inducing demorali- 
zation. Not one-twentieth of the population of our cities attend 
church. The press teems with accounts of vice in all its most 
hideous forms. Purity and gentleness would seem to have taken 
their flight, leaving the fiercest and most degrading passions to run 
riot through the land. 

But the predominance of Radicalism threatens to engulf us in a 
yet lower deep. 

What hope for social life in the South, when the negroes are made 
the ruling class ? — w T hen the present race of whites will be reduced 
to beggary, and a new class are made the type of Southern social 
life ? — In the North, also, the old society will be equally submerged. 
The dearness of living is even now compelling the refined people 
of former days, to retire from Northern cities to country towns and 
villages. The palatial residences of New York city are chiefly oc- 



G52 

cupied by the " shoddy " aristocracy, who bring to their position the 
pretension and arrogance of recent wealth. 

The poor of the Northern cities are being degraded to the con- 
dition of the European pauper class. The inadequacy of their 
wages is lowering them in the social scale; as extreme poverty 
always blunts the sensibilities, and, in the end, brutalizes the popu- 
lation exposed to its influence. — When the ruin becomes general, 
what will become of the poor? When unable to subsist in the cities, 
or to remove to the country, what resource against extreme desti- 
tution ? Thousands must famish with cold and hunger, and other 
thousands drag on a miserable, hopeless existence. 

The state of general poverty will tell most severely upon those 
habits which promote refinement, and advance civilization. When 
absolute physical wants consume the income, nothing can be spared 
for what are considered the superfluities of life. Personal adorn- 
ment, and the elegancies of social life, must be retrenched. The 
social party, the concert, the lecture, must be given up ; and poverty 
will even retrench the educational, and religious advantages of com- 
munity. Those classes whose services are necessary only to social 
and moral advanccement, are the first to feel the pressure of hard 
times- 
It is to be feared that American society will be upheaved to its 
foundations. We may be on the eve of industrial, social, and polit- 
ical changes, almost as radical and as disastrous as those wrought by 
the irruption of the Northern barbarians upon the Roman Empire. 

Were the ruin caused by the Radical policy limited to ourselves, 
it would admit of remedy. Sooner or later, it is to be hoped, the 
country would expel the Radicals, however firmly seated, from the 
power they abused ; and so great are our natural advantages, that 
the adoption of a wiser system of administration would soon repair 
the temporary loss of our prosperity. And indeed, the philanthrop- 
ist might regard a period of industrial stagnation as a corrective of 
the frightful social evils, into which the industrial excitement of the 
last thirty years has plunged us. The extravagance of thought, and 
impulse, and action, — the irreligion, and disregard of moral obliga- 
tion prevailing among so large a portion of our population, — might 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 653 

find a cure in the enforced simplicity of manners, incident to the 
gripe of honest, industrious poverty. The temporary loss of our 
riotous prosperity might not be regarded as an unmitigated evil, if 
it restored us to the hardy virtues of Republicanism, through the 
discipline of adversity. 

But the evils of Radical misrule will extend beyond ourselves. 
They will involve the world in ruin. 

Sect. 2. — The Ruin of Christendom. 
It is unnecessary to dwell further upon the social excitement and 
the industrial evils induced by the Radical policy, which will pros- 
trate America, and enable England to maintain its centralization of 
industry. 

The most formidable evils that are to be feared are political. The 
great danger is the political reaction in Europe, which will be fatal 
to the cause of liberty and religion in the Old World. 

In the present attitude of affairs, nothing can counteract the tend- 
ency to reaction, but the ascendancy of American influence. The 
loss of our prosperity, and the eclipse of our influence, will be fatal 
to the cause of progress. If events abroad continue to progress in 
the direction they have taken in the last few years, Europe will, be- 
fore two decades have elapsed, be overshadowed by Russian domi- 
nation. And events will continue to drift onward toward the crisis, 
if Britain is suffered to maintain its prosperity, and the command- 
ing influence arising from its centralization of commerce. 

The Reform Bill now* progressing through the English Parlia- 
ment will blot out the Whig party, and leave only the Tories and 
the Liberals to struggle for the ascendancy. Though the Liberal 
party will be much stronger than before, a great majority of Whig 
boroughs will go over to the Tory party, and give it, for the time, 
firm control of the government. The domination of the party will 
continue, until some period of suffering shall so irritate the enfran- 
chised peasantry, as to carry them beyond the control of the Aris- 
tocracy, and place the Liberals in power. 

* Written in the Spring of 1867. 



654 the world's crisis. 

Before that shall occur, it is the hope of the Tory leaders that the 
progress of reaction may give Europe to the sway of Absolutism, 
and enable them to repose in peace beneath the shadow of Conti- 
nental despotism. 

The recent imbroglio between France and Prussia upon the Lux- 
embourg question, that threatened to plunge Europe into war, has 
been peacefully settled. But it is only the lull in the tempest before 
it bursts forth with renewed fury. It did not suit the despots to 
submit their cause to the arbitrament of battle, while yet the Tories 
of England were in the crisis of their Reform Bill, and while the 
power of Prussia was yet unconsolidated over its newly conquered 
territories. When delay promised certain triumph, they were not 
willing to risk their cause upon the issue of a precipitate struggle. 
A war with France at the present time, could not, in any event, sub- 
serve the purposes of Russian and Prussian policy. A French vic- 
tory over Prussia, won before Russia could bring her forces into the 
field, would have enabled Napoleon to re-establish the deposed Ger- 
man princes, and strip Prussia of all her recent acquisitions : on the 
other hand — if Prussia triumphed — in the present critical situation of 
the British Tory party, the victory could not be pressed to a triumph 
of Absolutism, in the complete overthrow of the French monarchy. 

The reigning family of England are German in blood and sympa- 
thy. The British Queen would take no action, except in the interest 
of Prussia. Her intervention, which brought about the settlement 
of the French and Prussian imbroglio on the Luxembourg question, 
must be regarded as a. movement of Prussian diplomacy, desirous 
of putting off the inevitable conflict to a more favorable moment. 

The recent adjustment cannot be regarded as a definitive peace, 
nor as indicative of a pacific disposition on the part of Prussia 
and her sympathizers. There are open issues enough to bring on 
a conflict, whenever it may seem expedient. The despots desire to 
choose a more auspicious time. When the power of Prussia shall 
be consolidated, and when the British Tories shall have secured in 
Parliament a trusty majority of adherents fully devoted to their re- 
actionary policy, then will be the time to bring the issue between 
Absolutism and Progress to a crisis. 

Unless our national prosperity be restored, and in such a manner 



RUINOUS CONSEQUENCES OF OUR PRESENT POLICY. 655 

as to wrest the government of England from Tory control before 
that crisis comes, Russia will have Europe under her dictation. 
Backed by the reactionary government of England, the Czar will be 
master of the situation. It is not impossible that, in desperation, 
the French Emperor may endeavor to outbid Prussia for the Rus- 
sian alliance. By an alliance either with Prussia, or with France, 
the Czar might then carry out the traditional programme of a divis- 
ion of Europe. 

Then America will stand, the sole barrier to the ultimate triumph 
of Despotism allied with the Papacy. Liberty and religion will hang 
trembling upon the issue of a desperate conflict. In that struggle, 
the chances will be all against us. If we triumph, we shall triumph 
through the destiny of Republicanism — of Christianity — and through 
the favor of the God of providence. 

It may be, that in the inscrutable providence of God, the Rad- 
icals may be suffered to control the government, until their policy 
shall bring about this crisis. If the policy of the party is to meet 
with everlasting reprobation, the direr ruin it causes, the deeper the 
execrations heaped upon it. If the Radicals were hurled from 
power, now, and our country and the world were saved from ruin by 
a prompt return to Conservatism, the party might again lift its head, 
and its latitudinarian principles might continue to agitate Repub- 
licanism, perpetually. But if its policy be carried out, until it 
wreck our own prosperity, and place Europe beneath the domi- 
nation of Russia, and necessitate a terrific struggle for liberty, — irre- 
vocable judgment will be pronounced upon it. The hand of irrevers- 
ible fate will write its doom, and it will fall, to rise no more forever. 

Radicalism must go down. The doom of Latitudinarian Con- 
struction is sealed. The only question is — shall it fall while yet the 
safety and prosperity of the country and the world may. be secured; 
or — maintain its power a little longer — and sink amid the convulsions 
of general ruin, branded with the eternal hatred and loathing of 
mankind. 

The determination of this question makes the present time, The 
World's Crisis. 




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